We all know that the three people represent the United Kingdom, the mainland and Hong Kong respectively. There is half a burnt face in Hong Kong. When she first appeared, she was selling fakes to ghosts on the street. The big scarf covered most of her face, and only the smart eyes exposed made her extraordinarily beautiful. Jean is a bit out of place in this crowded city where everyone lives together, she makes up bizarre stories, she once committed suicide for her British boyfriend to leave without saying goodbye, she holds the camera John gave her to interview herself one side of the face), flipping and playing, self-pity and self-love. John was attracted to her as if he himself admitted that he stayed only because he was attracted to the city at times; he would rather pay fourteen hundred bucks for Jean's story like he didn't care that he was settled in a noisy and dirty market Area. But no matter what, he is just a traveler in this city, a photographer, always separated by a cold lens. He shoots Hong Kong and Jean, and he doesn't understand Jean's mind in the end.
The pre-reunification human rights movement was in full swing. What exactly is freedom? The director threw us a question. Jean's answer was, "What is free? You buy me this coffee. It's free." She didn't care, and it wasn't that the sky was falling. We saw that on the day of the return, the mainland's tanks rumbled on the streets, and the parade changed from a group of "freedom or death" to a group of "supporting the return", "this city is changing every day", just like Like John said. Finally, when Jean reappeared on the street again, he took off his scarf, revealing the other half of his face crawling with scars.
Many people criticized Wang Ying for vilifying the city in the film. It is undeniable that the director only showed a part of Hong Kong, but it cannot be said to be "ugly". Different people have different views on what represents a city. Maybe the director thinks that the mediocrity of the slaughterhouse is blurred and bloody. This is not a glamorous appearance, just like the left half of Jean's face, it is not ugly, it is a kind of strong, strong and free.
So whose heartbeat is it at the end? After learning about John's death and sensing her own life, Vivian saw that heartbeat, it could be said to be John's, because his body was dead, like the fish that was cut open; it was also Vivian's, her rebirth It was brought by John. Of course it's also Jean's, because she's from Hong Kong. On July 1, 1997, Hong Kong was not destroyed overnight as expected (John's "Pompeii" metaphor), although she "changes every day" and everyone lives in this narrow land as always. It's like every day someone dies and someone is reborn, but when the tape covering the wound is removed, the heart of life continues to beat.
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