Film Analysis: Echoes of the Rainbow

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CLIT1001 Critical Approach Law Hang Lam UID 3035057014 Title: Echoes of the Rainbow Year: 2010 Director: Alex Law Country: Hong Kong, China The film Echoes of the Rainbow, alias 1969 Travelling in Space, portrays the life of Big Ears, a 8-year-old boy who lives in Hong Kong during the 1960s. Through the narrative of this small boy, Alex Law the director describes his childhood during the colonial period and expresses his perspective towards the postcolonial time. The film is deemed a dedication to the good old days when Hong Kong has not yet lost its precious assets – the Lion Rock spirit. Repetition is used to stress on this belief. Mr. Law complains “half of ‘shoes’ stands for ‘woe’: hard times!” to show how hard it is to make a living, Mrs. Law always replies “but the other half of ‘shoe’ stands for ‘shine’: good times!” to comfort him. Repetition of the line appears in another scene when Mrs. Law tries on the new shoes and names them “Good Times” and “Hard Times” respectively. As she walks, she says to her husband “See? Hard Times, Good Times, then Hard Times,
then Good Times…”. Also, the repetition of the line “we must believe”, which is another common norm during the time, is heard six times in the film. Mrs. Law consoles her son, Desmond, and encourages her husband with this sentence when they have problems concerning health and business. True that life is a combination of bone and bane, but Alex Law assures his audience that they can face the unpredictable future ahead sparely if they have faith in the Hong Kong spirit. The film also provokes audience to reflect upon the things they lose throughout the years by recreating realistic scenes of Hong Kong in the 60s. The familiar costumes, idioms, setting (Wing Lee Street) create a sense of intimacy of the viewers. Moreover, there are at least two actors mingle within a frame

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