Although the documentaries Ann Hui shot in the beginning of her career are not exactly renowned, since a number of them were TV productions, the approach she implemented in them is quite interesting, since she frequently experimented with the format and cinematic expression in general. “As Time Goes By” may be more down to Earth, but the level of introspection it exhibits in Ann Hui’s life and the way it makes a parallel with the history of Hong Kong since the 50s, is rather intriguing to watch.
The documentary begins with a private dinner/classmates reunion including Ann Hui, where Michael Luk a lecturer/administrator, Margaret Ng, a barrister and member of the Legislative Council of Hong Kong from 1995 to 2012 and Dominic Tsim, a company strategist and former leftist activist, discuss about their past and how they changed through the years. The second scene presents a tour of Hong Kong through the windshield of a bus, the next has Ann Hui talking about her life, then her mother about her own and how it shaped her daughter, and the next includes footage from HK from the past. These five elements that interchange throughout the movie, actually form the whole narrative, with the succession shedding light to the lives of the ‘protagonists’ but mostly Ann Hui, while also presenting the history of Hong Kong.
Some aspects are quite shocking to witness. Although now somewhat known, this documentary was the first in Hui’s filmography that presented the situation of her mother, who was actually a Japanese who kept her identity secret in order to avoid racism in Hong Kong. That even Hui did not know until she became 16 years old provides the most intense moment of the doc, with her mother stating that when she did reveal the truth, she found herself ‘ostracized’ from both Japanese (for marrying a Japanese man) and the locals, with the memories of Japanese rule and their practices still being quite prevalent at the time.
Apart from this, the way Hui ended up in a catholic school after the insistence of her progressive father, in an age (in the 50s) when Chinese patriarchs did not send their daughters to school so frequently is also interesting to hear about, with Hui showing footage from both the past and how the school is now. The way her family moved from China to Hong Kong in 1952, and her days in government-built residences, where she later listened to Mona Fong sing at the Ritz nightclub, forms another interesting part of the story. The same applies to her hunger for things Chinese, which was something of a reaction to her British education, including reading Louis Cha novels and later on, poetry. The reading of newspapers, particularly the film section of the Student Weekly and the European films that featured there present another key aspect of her persona and how it evolved later on.
Check the interview with the director
Also quite interesting is the way the personal information mentioned in the documentary became part of her later cinematic self. The identity of her mother was the inspiration for “Song of the Exile”, the Louis Cha novels were adapted in “The Romance of Book and Sword” And “Princess Fragrance”, Polanski’s movies were an inspiration for her work in the HK New Wave. Even the poetry she read was recently the source of “Elegies” in an element that definitely gives “As Time Goes By” a meta hypostasis.
Lastly, and considering the past of all the people featured in the initial dinner, the discussion about HK and Chinese politics is prevalent throughout the movie, with the 1967 riots providing the first focal point and the handover the second. Both are explored quite thoroughly.
At the same time, the focus on Ann Hui at the time the doc was shot is a joy to watch, with her intoxicating laughter, her will to talk sincerely about very personal topics and her chain smoking forming a rather accurate portrait of her as a person.
Hung Poon’s editing is probably the best technical trait here, with the succession of the different aspects of the film, as mentioned in the beginning, being ideal, with each providing a relief from the other while allowing the two stories to unfold in harmony. At 58 minutes, the documentary definitely does not overextend its welcome, in another of the movie’s traits.
“As Time Goes By” is an excellent documentary, particularly due to the great presentation of the personal and the historical axes. At the same time, I feel that a back-to-back viewing with “Keep Rolling”, which essentially presents the same topic 13 years later, is a must watch for all fans of Ann Hui.