When the controversial extradition bill was withdrawn in November 2019, the repercussions of the months of protesting, the images of police violence and the deaths among the protesters had left quite a mark on Hong Kong citizens, one which will surely need time to heal and to be processed. In the last months, we have seen quite a number of documentaries as well as feature films dealing with the demonstrations of 2019, for example, “Montage of Hong Kong” and “Hong Kong Moments”, that have done their part in showing the various facets of the events and how it established a division among the Hong Kong populace. While those documentaries focused on the demonstrations as a whole, “Inside Red Brick Wall” concentrates on the clash of student protesters and the Hong Kong police at the Polytechnic University. Using the material of various filmmakers, it shows how the protest developed into a 13-day-siege causing numerous people to be injured and arrested.
Inside the Red Brick Wall is screening at CineCina Film Festival
Similar to “Taking Back the Legislature”, the collection of numerous accounts is what sets “Inside the Red Brick Wall” apart from other documentaries dealing with the Hong Kong protests of 2019. While on the one hand you will be able to follow the dramatic development of the events, emphasized by the police and the students communicating through megaphones, which becomes increasingly more aggressive and desperate, as well as the drama and the emotions on the other hand, especially on the side of the students who, at one point, have to face the difficult decision of staying and be arrested or trying to flee the scene. Considering many of them are in the hands of the authorities, have been beaten and have not been heard from for quite some time, the growing fear in some of the students becomes something of a companion in various sequences, with one of them expressing his “fear of disappearing” and having sacrificed himself just to be forgotten.
In combination with the fast-paced editing, most specifically in the scenes showing the protesters fighting with the police, retreating from them and frantically searching for cover, you might get the impression you are watching footage of a street war. As the students repeatedly try and break the police's line of defense, the despair and violence becomes quite hard to watch and bear at times, highlighting the true meaning of the information presented at the beginning of a number of protesters having vanished after being arrested.
“Inside the Red Brick Wall” is a very well-edited, but at times hard-to-watch documentary about an important event within the 2019 protests following the introduction of the extradition bill in Hong Kong. The numerous perspective of the siege, and the painstakingly long periods of waiting before the next attack occurs give the impression you are watching footage from a war zone, which again emphasizes the importance of processing the impact of 2019 and the mark it has left on Hong Kong.
