Dot 2 Dot 點對點 (2014) – Hong Kong [2014 HKIFF]
Director: Amos Why
Screenplay: Amos Why
Starring: Moses Chan Ho, Meng Tingyi, Susan Shaw Yin-yin, Lam Tze-chung
Reviewed by: Andrew Chan (Film Critics Circle of Australia)
Initial Thoughts:
It’s a sentimental feeling when a film takes you back to your childhood, depicting what Hong Kong used to be like and how we used to value heritage and traditional over vast commercialism. Directed/Produced and Written by Amos WHY, “Dot 2 Dot” gives us that allowance and time to reminiscent about what had been changed, inquire our past connections and understanding what we truly value.
In-depth Analysis:
“Dot 2 Dot” is simply like life, where each dot is carefully connected to another, the uncertainty and unknown becomes familiar and eventually we learn and grow towards completing each dot. Director Amos WHY presents us with a layered story with plenty of heart and soul of what build up the city of Hong Kong.
Traditions and values are often lost in the city that never sleeps, driven deep within the commercial world, heritage is often forgotten where a hundred year old rock is being placed next to a rubbish bin. Such attention to detail is given extra thoughts and how something that we roam across everyday being jam crowded within the systematic MTR is at its essence like a child’s dot to dot exercise, simply connected.
What “Dot 2 Dot” does extremely well is the provoking of thoughts as we are able to drill down into a very different Hong Kong, that we used to be remember, the happenings and perhaps with a hint of regret, all that is left behind are our memories.
At its core, “Dot 2 Dot” is a love story attempting to connect two lost souls in a city where they have become outsiders. It is all the more sad when witnessing people who grew up in Hong Kong are more willing to throw away the past. Perhaps, it takes someone to walk away from a situation and a period of time, before coming back with fresh perspective and treasuring and noticing the finer details.
Moses Chan is given his best acting role in years, and it is refreshing where he is portraying someone that you can relates towards rather than his resume of superficial TVB roles. Meng Tingyi plays a Mainlander who ends up knowing more about Hong Kong than the people that resides within. While Susan Shaw is at her sentimental best when she recalls the days of the 70s disaster at Causeway Bay department store.
In the maniac pacing of today’s society it is wonderful to endure a film that reminds us of what makes Hong Kong beautiful, unique and how we need to treasure our surroundings. It is important to understand, who we are, what we stand for and what makes us today. “Dot 2 Dot” serves as a message within a bottle, floating in the ocean waiting for us to stop and reflect and remember. A lovely little film… (Neo, November 2014)
I rate this 7.5 out of 10.
The film had its world premiere at the 38th Hong Kong International Film Festival.