Course:ASIA325/2023/Rebirth—A Continuum of Life From Superstitious and Feminist Perspectives: The Secret (1979)
Group Members' Contributions
| Introduction | M J |
| Stories Behind The Film Production | A L |
| Histories of Reception | A L |
| Scholarly Literature Review | Y L |
| Comparative Analysis | L D |
| Alternative Interpretation | M J |
| Conclusion | Y L |
| Facilitator | M J |
| Questioner | Y L |
| Recorder | M J |
| Presenter | LD |
| Reflector | A L |
Introduction
“The Secret'' is one of the films created during the early Hong Kong New Wave Movement. This sophisticated piece of work was directed by Ann Hui, who dedicated her life to her passion for filmmaking. Ann Hui’s expertise in film directing contributed to the success of “The Secret'' when it premiered on November 1, 1979. Surrounded by suspenseful atmosphere, the story of “The Secret'' begins with the discovery of two corpses hanging in a tree, who are believed to be Li Yuen (Angie/Chiu Nga-Chi) and her fiancée, Yuen Si-cheuk (Alex/Man Chi-Leung). While Ah Saw (Norman Tsui Siu-Keung) was appointed potential murderer by the police, the neighbour of the victims, Jeng-ming (Sylvia/Chang Ai-Chia), insists on solving the puzzle herself along with the clues provided by Yuen’s blind grandma (Cheuk-Cheuk Lai). Ming’s investigation finally reveals the love triangle between Mui Siu-kei (Lee Hye-Sook),Yuen, and Si-cheuk that caused Siu-kei to accidentally kill Si-cheuk in her attempt to hurt Yuen. Causing Yuen to kill Siu-kei in a fit of anger, and swapping clothes with her as a coverup.
The matter of life and death, in terms of the idea of the continuum of life, is manifested through religious beliefs as an interwoven theme throughout the film. This research project offers insights into this theme by taking the superstitious and feminist perspectives into consideration. The following sections provide the historical context and the inspiration behind the production of “The Secret”, as well as the ideas from the preceding scholarly reviews in regard to feminism, and offers a novel share of perspective in relation to the prior point of views.
Stories Behind the Film
In May 1970, two "bodies" of a man and a woman were found in Lung Fu Shan, Hong Kong. After investigation, the two were found to be a couple, the day of the incident was the woman's birthday, and it is estimated that the two went to Lung Fu Shan dating to celebrate their birthday. The "police" for the investigation of the case after the arrest of the suspect, and the trial, ruling. However, six months after the case was decided, some clues were provided by the neighbors of the deceased, but the original case was overturned. "In 1978, director Ann Hui, who had entered the film industry, modified the story of the "Double Murder Case in Lung Fu Shan, Hong Kong" and brought it to life. In 1978, director Ann Hui, who had entered the film industry, modified the story of this "double Corpse Murder case in Lung Fu Shan, " and brought it to the big screen, making this “The Secret". At the beginning of the film, director Ann Hui also played subtitles, the real case after a summary. But Ann Hui did not directly use the double murder case in Lung Fu Shan as the material for the film but used it as an inspiration for the background of the film.In addition to the story of the case, director Ann Hui also incorporated a lot of "new age women's thinking" in "The Secret", and analyzed and reflected on the "social patterns of Hong Kong" in the late 70s.
Histories of the Film’s Reception
“The secret” was released in 1979 and the film received wide acclaim from audiences. The film not only promoted the development of the "New Wave Movement" in Hong Kong cinema but also won a trophy and three nominations at the 17th Golden Horse Awards. In this film, director Ann Hui not only tells the story of the case but also expresses the "new era of women's thinking".
In the story "The Secret", the character " Yuen", played by Angie Chiu, is undoubtedly a traditional female figure. In front of her parents and grandmother, she follows the rules of propriety and looks like a good girl. In the emotional entanglement of Cheuk, Yuen knows that her partner is cheating on her, but she chooses to hold back and give in because of the constraints of "traditional female morality". When she learned that she was pregnant, she deliberately hid it in order not to embarrass her family. However, on October 1, 1971, monogamy was introduced in Hong Kong and only one wife was allowed in Hong Kong. History of the development of marriage law in Hong Kong: In 1842, due to the corruption and incompetence of the Qing Dynasty, and in search of peace and stability, an unequal lease was signed with Britain, leasing Hong Kong to Britain for 99 years. Since Britain ruled Hong Kong, two systems were implemented to facilitate administration. One was for the British residents who had moved here under British law, while most of the old Chinese residents were still governed by the laws of the Qing Dynasty. As polygamy was legal under the laws of the Qing Dynasty, it was legal and normal to have multiple wives in Hong Kong. It was not until October 1, 1971, when the marriage system was revised in Hong Kong, that polygamy was completely abolished. At this time, it was nearly 60 years later than most Chinese cities implemented monogamy, so many Hong Kong families who married before 1972 still have polygamy. For example, Hong Kong gambling king Stanley Ho had multiple legal wives.
It may be too hasty to classify Yuen and Ming as "traditional women" and "modern women" respectively because the contradiction between tradition and modernity is not only reflected in the contrast between the two women, but also in the two women themselves. Although Yuen is bound by the traditional concept of marriage, she also shows a "new" side in her pursuit of happiness and dressing. Ming is rational, brave, and kind, and she embodies the charm of a modern woman, but Ming's stubborn choice to take care of Yuen's grandmother after Yuen's "death" suggests that there is a shadow of "old" thinking in her image. The whole movie regrets that it is too much about the creation of horror and suspense, but to some extent it neglects the narrative of the story, the plot is incoherent, the logic is a little lacking, and the characters of Cheuk and others are not full enough, slightly flat and prop-oriented. The disappearance of culture is often due to a misconception of culture, and Hong Kong's cultural scholars, writers, and directors are constantly searching for an identity amidst the ambiguity. In her debut film, "The Secret", which was born in this era, director Ann Hui expresses the pain and struggle of the ordinary citizens at the edge of the cultural fusion era, reflecting her thoughts on the collision and impact of traditional Chinese thought and new Western-style modern thought in Hong Kong society.
Scholarly Literature Review
Feminism is a topic that is often discussed when analyzing Ann Hui’s films mentioning that Ann hui has stated that her works often include particular characteristics that are not often compatible with the logic of commercial pleasure and unpopular topics. One of the unpopular topics of Ann Hui’s film is feminism, specifically female subjectivity. Scholars have argued that women filmmakers behind the scene had an impact on gender representation on screen (Chen, 2015). To investigate gender representation depicted by a female director Ann Hui, Chang (2016) and Ho (2001) in their articles analyzed Hui’s depictions of female representation in the film “The Secret” 1979.
Gender is referred to as the roles and functions that men and women make in a specific society and is regarded as personal practices that are conceptualized within a social system. Gender representation in society has been influenced by representation on screen with the gaining popularity of commercial cinema. Ann Hui and her works on female subjectivity in her works might have an influence on female audiences and gender practices as Ann Hui’s works achieved popularity amongst Chinese audiences ( Chen, 2015).
In combination with commercial pleasure (commercial cinema), with the representation of feminism, Ann Hui’s first film “The secret (1979)” took thriller as a commercial theme and exerted the script through the focus on a female protagonist Ming and uncovering the story of Yuen(Chang, 2016). Ming and Yuen’s characteristics can be compared in reference to Ming as the new and modern society and Yuen in the old as juxtapositions of two women figures ( Ho, 2001). Yuen figure represents a traditional Chinese woman who is suffering and silenced in the patriarchal society while Ming’s figure acts as an alter-ego of Yuen ( Ho, 2001). Yuen’s figure as a traditional Chinese woman suffers in the patriarchal society in that being pregnant before marriage is a shame and being rushed to marry by her family is a stress. Overall Yuen's style of dressing also suggests her figure is traditional. On the reverse, Ming’s figure in her new dressing style suggests her modern identity as she acts with self-awareness, modern anthesis and self-determination. In Ming’s investigations, Ming has shown intensive usage of modern strategies and ways of thinking. Unlike female detectives in earlier Cantonese cinema where there is frequent incorporation of superhuman cognition and martial expertise, Ming exerts “western” detective acting ( Ho, 2001). Ming’s detective operations include gathering evidence from spaces such as the hospital and homes, then forwarding evidence to forensics and police procedures. (Ho, 2001). Upon Yuan’s haunting, Ming faced it with rational resilience as she is drawn deeper into the mystery of her friend’s death led by curiosity. Under the context that Ann Hui’s female representation is depicted to impact the audience’s perceptions of women, Ming’s figure would create a positive image of women filled with hope that the audience can also be resilient and capable.
Comparative Analysis
Nicolas Roeg’s “Don’t Look Now” and Ann Hui’s “The Secret” share many similarities and differences regarding their themes and film elements. “Don’t Look Now,” is a supernatural thriller that follows John and Laura Baxter after the accidental death of their daughter Christine. The two movies are often compared to one another as they both share a unique blend of elements between psychological drama with elements of horror and thriller.
Similarities
The most obvious similarity between the two films would be the ghostly manifestation of a mysterious character dressed in red. Throughout Ann Hui’s “The Secret,” the imagery of Yuen’s bright red coat is used to create the effect that her ghost is haunting Ming and the rest of her family. For example, in the scene where Ming visits Yuen’s grave she sees a woman with a bright red coat run away on the top of the hill. Viewers immediately recognize the bright red coat as being Yuen’s and thus creating the belief that Yuen’s ghost must be haunting Ming. The use of a bright red coat and its distinct association with Yuen, who is assumed to be dead, makes the continuous sightings imply a ghostly or supernatural explanation. This is similar to Nicolas Roeg’s use of a red rain jacket. John and Laura’s daughter, Christine was shown wearing a bright red rain jacket at the time of her death which becomes a recurring sight throughout the film. After Christine’s death, John keeps seeing a small figure wearing a bright red coat, such sightings trigger psychic flashes of Christine, who is wearing a redcoat in these flashbacks. For example, during the scene where John and Laura are walking to dinner and get lost and separated, John sees a small figure wearing a red coat run into an alley. Because the red coat is what Christine wore when she died, viewers instantly connect this figure with Christine. This leaves viewers unsure if Christine is now a ghost or if John’s grief has caused him to go insane. By choosing a bright red piece of clothing as what the dead characters were wearing at the time of their death, both Hui and Roeg are able to create a sense of ghostliness and haunting by having this significant piece of clothing appear to continue living even after the character’s death.
Another similarity between the two films would be the usage of superstition through a blind “all-knowing” older female character. This can be seen through Hui’s character of Yuen’s grandma as well as Roeg’s character of Heather, the older psychic who helps Laura “see” the deceased Christine. Yuen’s grandma is portrayed as a superstitious/religious woman. Although she is blind, she is able to sense things that others are unable to, creating the image that she is connected to the supernatural. For example, when Yuen comes back to the house to find the doctor's slip she had left in her red coat, the grandma calmly accepts Yuen’s ghost while the terrified neighbours consider it a haunting. This calm acceptance of Yuen’s ghost creates the image of the grandma being psychic-like and connected to the spirit world. This character is similar to the blind psychic, Heather of Roeg’s film who is also without sight, but could sense things beyond what could be explained in the real world. For example, when Heather slipped into a trance and warned her sister that something bad was about to happen to John. This warning eventually proved to be accurate. The accuracy of her prediction confirms to viewers that she is indeed a psychic and connected to the spiritual world. The usage of a blind psychic allows both directors to highlight the trait of seeing beyond the surface in both characters.
The last similarity we will highlight between these two films would be the theme of rebirthing. Such themes could be seen in both movies using sex and birth. For example, in The Secret, following Yuen’s death was the immediate birth of her child. The birth of the child is a redemptive miracle after the murder of Yuen as well as a new beginning from all the turmoil she had suffered before her death. This could be compared to the scene of Laura and John having sex for the first time after the death of their child. Although, this was not the first time they have ever had sex, it was the first time since the death of their child, making the scene also a redemptive miracle. Representing the rebirthing of their relationship and the start of a new legacy.
Differences
Although there are many similarities between the two films, there are also many differences. The most obvious difference being the use of supernatural beings. Throughout The Secret, the presence of a ghost is alluded to with the reoccurring sightings of Yuen whom everyone believed to have been deceased already. This is later proved to have a logical explanation as Yuen turned out to be alive; confirming that there were no ghosts. For example, when Ming finds Yuen during the final scene of the movie, it is confirmed to viewers that there was never a ghost but Yuen was alive this whole time. This is different from Don’t Look Now as the reoccurring sightings of a little girl with the red coat is never explicitly explained. For example, The dwarf in red appears in the end had very little revealed about her character besides her appearance and her murderous act. This leaves viewers wondering if the sightings of a small person with a red coat was a figment of John's imagination, the serial killer, or an actual ghost.
Another major difference between the two movies would be their different uses of flashbacks. In The Secret, the character of Ming has many flashbacks of her interactions with Yuen. Such flashbacks are used to solve the mystery of the double murders and allows Ming to find clues and follow the trail of Yuen’s life. For example, Ming has a flashback of Yuen vomiting on the boat which allowed her to realize that Yuen was possibly pregnant at the time of her supposed death. The director uses these flashbacks in a practical sense in order to tell the story of Yuen’s murder. This could be contrasted to Roeg’s use of flashbacks in “Don’t Look Now” as the flashbacks that John experiences are of past scenes that had already been shown in the film instead of any new revelations that are used to further expose a plot. For instance, when John sees a reflection of someone in a red coat through the water of the canal, he gets a flashback of his daughter playing outside before her death; a scene that was shown in the beginning of the movie. Roeg’s use of flashbacks are a visual metaphor for the permanence and pervasiveness of grief; highlighting that the death of John’s daughter is something that haunts him and impacts his everyday life.
A third difference between the two movies would be the feminist role that Ming takes on in “The Secret'' compared to the very traditional character of Laura in “Don’t Look Now.” “The Secret '' has themes of feminism in its many strong female characters. For example, Ming’s character represents the modern feminist woman as she acts with independence, analysis and self-determination. In Ming’s investigations, Ming has shown intensive usage of modern strategies with and ways of thinking. This could be seen when Ming looks for Mei after discovering the cause of Yuen’s unhappiness. This highlights that Ming uses logical reasoning and detective work to solve the mystery of Yuen’s death instead of running to ghosts and the supernatural to explain the recent sightings of Yuen. This can be contrasted to Roeg’s character of Laura, who turns to a psychic in order to cope with the death of her daughter. For example, when Laura first meets Heather, who tells her that her daughter is happy. Laura immediately accepts this as the truth and actively seeks out Heather to talk about her daughter after just one meeting. Laura’s immediate acceptance of Heather’s claims could be seen as naivety and confirms stereotypes about women being less logical and acting upon emotions compared to men.
Alternative Interpretation
Death as a continuation of life is an underlying theme throughout “The Secret”, while being represented by the multiple homicide incidents and the birth of Yuen’s baby from her dead body, the idea of the continuum of life and death is closely connected to the beliefs of Buddhism, which is an emphasized element in the film—it is portrayed through the depiction of Buddhism funeral rites, such as the offering of cakes and fruits to the dead, all-night vigil, as well as the lighting of incenses and candles; Yuen’s grandma, while being portrayed as a deeply superstitious and religious women, also personates an “all-knowing” person—although unsighted, she is intuitive and sensitive, she is the only person to discover Yuen’s secret pregnancy; she sensed Mrs. Ma’s eavesdropping eventhough Mrs. Ma listened silently; she calmly accepts the recurrence of “Yuen’s ghost” while the neighbours considers their neighbourhood haunted and people possessed; she sticks to her respect for her religion by believing that lighting three incense in front of Yuen’s grave will have Yuen to leave her with peace.
Grandmother’s piousness lead to her resemblance to Buddha’s omniscient that endowed her with the sensibility for the occurrence of death and birth, which is metaphorized through the image of butterfly—butterfly, in the film, can be interpreted as the idea of “rebirth” as they were born as caterpillars then “reborn” into butterflies—the image of butterfly appeared twice in the film, each time landing on Grandma at the timing of the occurrence of homicidal incidents, the exclusive relationship between butterfly and Grandma infers the idea of the representation of Buddha as Grandma.
Scene 1
The first appearance of a butterfly takes place at the beginning of the film, it lands on Grandma’s shoulder as she sits still quietly, frowning with a solemn facial expression, as if carefully observing and attempting to interpret her own feelings, which is immediately followed by the school boy’s reporting of the two bodies (Figure 1. The Secret, 8:41). On one hand, although Siu-kei and Si-cheuk came to their deaths, it is considered “rebirth” for Yuen, because she is no longer the person that she was before, and is forced to start a new life due to the murder of Siu-kei. On the other hand, the “rebirth” of Yuen was led to by the unborn child that she carries, which buries the seed for the cycle of life for the first time in the film.
Scene 2
The second appearance of the butterfly takes place at the ending of the film as it lands on Grandma’s head, which occurred right after the birth of Yuen’s baby (Figure 2. The Secret, 1:29:27). In terms of the continuation of life, the birth of Yuen’s child manifests as an extension of her life, which revisits the concept of rebirth from death. In terms of Grandma as the representation of Buddha, the last shots of the film makes comparison of her to Buddha to reinforce this idea—followed by the birth of Yuen’s baby, a medium long shot of Grandma draws attention to her statue-like stillness as she sits on the couch, moving her hand only the slightest to repel the butterfly, almost identical to her posture in “Scene 1”. In the meantime, Ah-saw’s mother hands over the baby to Ming, the cycle of life finally continues to develop, because although it was Ming who caused Yuen’s death, it will also be her to continue it by raising Yuen’s child, which points out the interconnection between life and death and where the beginning and ending of the cycle of life meets. In the final shot of the film, the camera focuses on the face of Grandma in a close-up shot, followed by a tracking shot as it moves horizontally to the left into a mirror, leaving Grandma’s face on the right side of the screen, and the back of her head next to the altar. As the camera zooms in gradually on the reflection of the altar in the mirror, it eventually stops to a close-up shot of the statue of Buddha who had both eyes closed, mirroring the blindness of Grandma (Figure 3. The Secret, 1:30:07). This shot makes clear of the parallel between the existence of Grandma and Buddha from multiple aspects. First, the motionlessness of Grandma strongly resembles the features of the Buddha statue. Further, the closed-eyes of the Buddha statue makes a distinctive resemblance to the Grandma blindness. Moreover, the reflection of Grandma in the mirror implies the multiple identities she possesses—as both an ordinary person and a representation of Buddha. Last but not least, the emphasis on the close-eyed Buddha statue in the mirror serves to ground Grandma’s unspoken identity
Echoes of Feminism
Grandma’s underlying identity as Buddha may be perceived as a glorification of female identity. Grandma is portrayed as an extremely dignified and respected person in the film. Despite being a blind elderly woman who requires the assistance of others to perform basic daily routines, such as walking, she maintains stable connections with a broad range of people who are willing to take care of her and to keep her company. Which reflects the dignity of her presence in terms of her identity as a woman.
Echoing Scholar's argument regarding female filmmaker’s impact on gender representation in pro-feminist films, the image of Grandma being portrayed as parallel to Buddha reinforces the idea that Ann Hui deliberately incorporates pro-feminist concepts into her filmmaking to enhance the glorification of female images.
Conclusion
Ann Hui’s first feature film, “The Secret” effectively displayed Hui’s strength and objectives to create films that offer commercial pleasure as well as social reflection. In the rise of Hong Kong’s New Wave, filmmakers have depicted society with accuracy and honesty. These aspects are shown in “The Secret” through Hui’s characters and themes which reflect on realistic characteristics of people in the society of the time.
Superstition as the first theme depicts Hui’s strategy for commercial pleasure in cinema. Hui’s superstitious views intertwined the entire film creating a thriller, but at the end brought the audience back to the reality that ghosts do not exist through Ah Ming’s uncovering of Yuen’s mystery and hence showcasing the honesty of society.
Female subjectivity as a second theme, though an unpopular topic, was discussed in “The Secret” as the story was focused on female characters such as Ming, Yuen and Yuen’s grandma. It is argued by scholars that filmmakers create an impact on gender representation which Hui took into “ The Secret '' allowing the audience to compare and contrast Yuen and Ming as representations of women in the old and new society. For example, Ming’s character is depicted as the accuracy and honesty of a new society woman as Hui depicted Ming with self-awareness, modern anthesis and self-determination with thinking that is logical and evidence-based. The creation of Ming’s character, calls for a “new era of women’s thinking” that hinders the traditional female morality from the patriarchal society in the past.
The film is often compared to Nicolas Roeg’s “Don’t Look Now” as they both share a unique blend of elements between psychological drama with elements of horror and thriller. Our Wiki page highlighted many similarity and differences such as, both director’s use of colour, film techniques, and methods of story telling.
In the matter of life and death, the idea of the continuum of life is manifested as a religious belief of Buddhism, the major religion embedded deeply into Asian countries for a long time in history. As an alternative interpretation, the idea of death and rebirth in relation to Buddhism is an aspect embedded into the film as a theme represented by the butterfly as a symbol of rebirth. The image of a butterfly appeared twice in the film, once on grandma inferring the idea of representing Grandma as Buddha and the emphasis on the closed-eyed buddha statue that serves as the ground of Grandma’s unspoken identity. The second appearance of the butterfly at the homicide incident with Yuen’s baby born after Yuen’s death manifests as an extension to Yuen’s life contrasting the continuum of life.
To conclude, as a team we would definitely recommend “The Secret” for its pro-feminist theme. Hui’s representation of the female characters could be seen as an impact on the audience’s perceptions of women in that the audience can be influenced by Ming’s characteristics. In the 1970s, women were often more like Yuen who was more traditional, hence Ming’s characteristics could inspire and signifies that a rise to feminism and transition from tradition to modern is born just like a caterpillar is now transforming into a butterfly with beauty and freedom.
References
Ann, Hui, director. The Secret. Ann Hui, The Secret (1979), English Subbed, 1979.8:41
Ann, Hui, director. The Secret. Ann Hui, The Secret (1979), English Subbed, 1979.1:29:27
Ann, Hui, director. The Secret. Ann Hui, The Secret (1979), English Subbed, 1979.1:30:07
Ho, Y. L. (2001). Women on the Edges of Hong Kong Modernity. Spaces of Their Own: Women’s Public Sphere in Transnational China, 162-190.
Chen, L. (2015). Dancing with gender: A reception analysis of Chinese women's viewing experiences of Ann Hui's The Golden Era (Doctoral dissertation, Syracuse University).
Chang, J. J. (2016). Ann Hui's Tin Shui Wai Diptych: The Flashback and Feminist Perception in Post-Handover Hong Kong. Quarterly Review of Film and Video, 33(8), 722-742