1952 Hong Kong
Alexia Li Pong
Born 1944
Hong Kong
Interviewed on September 14th 2019
By Max Salata
What is the first movie you remember seeing?
The first movie that Mrs. Pong remembers seeing is a black and white film in Cantonese (a dialect spoken in southern China, distinct from Mandarin which is used across the whole country). The film is a love story, made by a local production company. The plot is simple but she does not recall the precise details about this. There is dialogue, as well as background music. The music, however, is kept to a minimum.
The actors and their personalities are more memorable to Mrs. Pong than the plot itself. She adds that the lead male and female actors of this film are still alive today, though very old. As well as love stories, she also enjoyed viewing martial arts movies. When asked why she remembers this in so much detail, she explains that she rarely had the opportunity to see films, and so whenever she did was always a very memorable occasion.
English-language movies were more expensive and Mrs. Pong did not see her first one until later in her life. The first English-language film she can recall is DeMille’s The Ten Commandments. She watched this film in Hong Kong with her elementary school. Since the school was Catholic, students were encouraged to see the film and could get tickets for half price.
Do you have a preference between romantic films and martial arts films?
Mrs. Pong always preferred loved stories. She liked martial arts films as well, however, for a number of reasons. They are always, in some way or another, about the triumph of good over evil. They are very exciting yet not too violent to cause discomfort in the viewer. The stunts are extremely impressive, and all done authentically since it is not technically possible to ‘fake’ stunts back then. Wong Fei Hung, a famous martial artist, engaged the audience through his skill and virtuosity. The martial artists used traditional methods to levitate.
She makes an interesting observation that special effects and stunts have gone downhill, in her view, since the mid 20th century. They are all ‘faked’ these days. She compares these martial arts movies to the modern film Avatar, but in that movie, of course, the stunts and special effects are completely dependent upon computerized technology. She thinks that the Chinese martial arts films of her time are more sophisticated, and better storytelling, than Avatar in some ways.
How old were you (approximately)?
8 or 9
What did you think of the characters/actors?
By age 8, Mrs. Pong had a favorite actress. She describes this lady as being pretty, sophisticated and elegant. It was quite difficult not to become attached to her, she says, given that this lady always played the lead roles in films.
What did you think of the costumes?
Mrs. Pong states that among the films she remembers, some use Western costumes, while other directors opted for traditional Chinese clothing. She vividly remembers Wong, the great martial artist, in traditional Chinese dress. She recalls that female actors sometimes had wigs which gave them full, thick hairstyles. She says this made them look more glamorous.
Do you remember the actors’ voices? If so, how did you respond to them?
Mrs. Pong’s favorite actress’ voice was quite low and rough. Something about it felt slightly fake and insincere to her. In some scenes, the actress spoke with a more high-pitched voiced which Mrs. Pong found pretentious. Someone once told her that the sound was dubbed for these films since this was cheaper than synchronized sound. She realizes that this was another reason why the local Cantonese films seemed fake to her. She adds that when she later saw English-language films, she considered English-speaking actors to be more sincere and genuine than their Chinese counterparts, who were chosen based on their looks and not their acting talent.
Who was with you?
Mrs. Pong would be accompanied by her sister Mary and her domestic helper. She does not remember going to the cinema with her parents. She would frequently share a seat with her sister Mary. Seats cost 2 Hong Kong dollars each, which was expensive at the time.
What was the physical cinema like?
It was very nice, and in a good area. There were red leather seats. The films always started at 7:30pm, and lasted an hour, sometimes a little more. The cinema was rarely busy or overcrowded.
How did you get to the cinema?
Mrs. Pong would walk from home, with great excitement.
Did you have a favorite candy?
There was a choice between fruit candy and chocolate. Mrs. Pong would mostly have the fruit candies because they lasted longer in the mouth, while chocolate melted fast.
It was interesting to me that she began to speak about candy before I even asked her the question. She returned to the same topic several times throughout the interview without my prompting.
The discussion about films caused Mrs. Pong to think about Chinese opera, another art form which had a huge influence on her childhood.
From a young age Mrs. Pong went to Chinese opera since her mother was an amateur performer of this genre. Her mother’s performances were for charity. The singers would sometimes come to her house to rehearse, and professional musicians would be there to instruct them. Mrs. Pong really enjoyed watching these rehearsals at home, and indeed going to the performances themselves. She remembers a specific type of snack that was served at the Chinese opera house. Costumes were amazing, always glittering, very expensive, and took years to make due to the elaborate embroidery. Live music was played by an ensemble of Chinese musicians, sometimes onstage, sometimes in a small pit. Every year during Chinese New Year tents would be set up in the New Territories, a district in the north of Hong Kong, for Chinese opera performances during this festive time.
