灯火阑珊 「Deng huo lan shan」
Release Date: March 02nd, 2023
Duration: 103 mins.
Director: Anastasia Tsang
Writer: Anastasia Tsang, Tsoi So-Man (Screenplay),
Starring: Sylvia Chang, Simon Yam, Cecilia Choi, Henick Chou, Alma Kwok, Jacky Hoo-Yin Tong,
One of the dominant images of Hong Kong films of the 80s and 90s is of the neon signs that sparkled brightly as backdrops. In a way, they symbolised the economic rise of the island. Now, their sparkle is beginning to fade as neon is replaced by LED lights which are cheaper and safer. According to a CNN article, at the peak of the neon sign trade in Hong Kong, there were over 400 artists working. Now there are about ten left. This is the backdrop for A Light Never Goes Out, the debut feature of Anastasia Tsang, a director who has moved from making shorts to working with screen veterans Sylvia Chang and Simon Yam who play an old couple whose lives are marked by the neon lights that defined Hong Kong for so long.
Chang plays the role of Heung, the widow of a master neon sign maker, Bill (Yam). Inheriting his workshop and his debts, she comes into contact with her husband’s apprentice, Leo (Henick Chou), a nice but lackadaisical lad whose few skills include manipulating glass. He manipulates Heung into keeping the workshop running and performing one last job, a dream neon sign that her husband was keen to finish.
Cue a familiar tale of an elderly lady and the young man helping each other move beyond grief and find meaning in life while their relationship allows the story expound on the theme of passing a tradition from the past into the future.
This comes out through an efficient script that has Heung revisiting past memories while visiting Bill’s old customers and works, defying the law as authorities try to tear down neon signage, and she helps Leo learn to be more confident through a craft. They give each other a boost and that puts them at odds with Heung’s architect daughter Prism (Cecilia Choi) who ostensibly isn’t so attached to the past as she and her fiancée have a visa to marry in Australia.
A narrative rich with nostalgia and sentimentalism for an age gone by unfolds without being maudlin. Heung’s grief for her husband combines with the sense of loss over neon signage but this is countered with a positive story of people coming together as they appreciate the neon art form. The character’s actions ably meld both old and new in the creative adventures of Heung and Leo (and his youth slang) as crowdfunding and Instagram are shown to relight people’s interests in a craft losing its shine.
Beyond measured performances that avoid melodrama, what grounds the film and makes it engaging is the way characters manipulate and ignore each other. This creates a bitter undertow that adds to the drama.
Ultimately, the film also keeps in sight the fading tradition of neon sign making. There is a lot of talk about inheriting workshops with dwindling clientele. Prism’s disinterest and the unlikely Leo seeming like a surrogate son hints at the difficulty artisans have in passing on their craft. However, the film shows the importance in maintaining the neon tradition and how it fits into wider culture. As Bill says in a flashback, an old timer says neon signage is writing calligraphy but with light. There are also many examples of characters who find their nostalgia and memories of the light acts as a comfort at a time of difficulty, particularly the older generations. If there is a message beyond treasuring an artform that signifies a part of Hong Kong’s identity, the character’s journey in preserving it and information given during the end credits show that it is possible to save things. As Bill says at one point, “Nothing is predetermined. If you want you, you can make it happen.”
Director Anastasia Tsang shows considerable skill in how she moves between past and present and what the neon means to the people with the ease of seamless scene transitions.
As Heung visits places from her past, dark areas shorn of neon, camera pans will take us to the same location but in an earlier time in her life and a younger actress playing the same character is bathed in the glow of signage as we see the area in its glory. The screen will fade to black and then be lit up by neon as we see Bill in his heyday. A match cuts and stock footage show the contrast between a dull present and a bright past when the signs offered a warm glow to people’s lives and Heung’s early courtship with Bill.
Indeed, it is hard not to feel nostalgic at the many shining sights, which will surely look great on a cinema screen as there are many beautiful visual compositions that capture the romance and the dazzling character of an older Hong Kong.
Here’s a guide from Time Out about how to photograph neon signs (complete with lenses and angles) in Hong Kong.
A Light Never Goes Out was played on Tuesday, July 25th, 18:00 at the Walter Reade Theater, Film at Lincoln Center. There was an introduction and Q&A with director Anastasia Tsang.