Elegies

Like the emblematic neon lights that brighten it’s nights, poetry and memories fill the streets of Hong Kong and bring them to life in the most recent film of Ann Hui, Elegies. Hui’s work has long been an expression of her deep-rooted love for Hong Kong, from Boat People (1982) and Ordinary Heroes (1999), to Our Time Will Come (2017) and many others. Elegies is no different, and like always, Hui approaches her subject matter with an unwavering care and respect. Here, the legendary figure of Hong Kong cinema speaks ever more personally by taking on a topic close to her heart: poetry. By interviewing contemporary poets, Huang Canran, Liu Waitong and the late Xi Xi, Elegies captures the unique rhythms of their everyday lives and varying attitudes towards the world. What is revealed are distinctively different characters, mindsets, ideals and ways of life. Their poetry becomes a time capsule, fusing recollections of the past with images of today. Together, away from the busy crowds, they create a deeply moving portrait of the many lives and layers of Hong Kong, paying a tribute to a time and world now gone. Elegies is a portrait of poets and the city, a film subtle and immense at the same time. (International Film Festival Rotterdam)