Review: Love in the Time of Revolution

Another 2019 protest documentary released last year

A Hong Kong activist group in Vancouver organised the screening of Love in the Time of Revolution at the Vancouver International Film Festival theatre this afternoon, including a Q&A with the director following the showing of the film.

Ticket for the film were sold out and the the theatre was open 30 minutes ahead of time. When I arrived, there were volunteers encouraging people to petition their Member of Parliament in protest of the Hong Kong police taking part in the World Police and Fire Games in Winnipeg, Manitoba.

All people had to do was find out who their MP was, fill in their name, and sign the form letter. On the envelope, they wrote the MP's name and address in Ottawa, with the return address on the back (to prove you are in their riding) and it would be mailed off free of charge (because it is to the MP).

Before the screening, Mabel Tung, chair of Vancouver Society in Support of Democratic Movement said a few words. She was very emotional having already seen the film and encouraged the audience to stay behind for the Q&A. 

Ngan interviewed protesters as events unfolded

Love in the Time of Revolution runs 107 minutes and the documentary follows the 2019 protests through the eyes of a group people: Uncle Fat, a middle-aged man who knows what life on the streets is like, Mr Leader, a frontline protester along with a young couple, and Rai Riya, a young woman from South Asia, perhaps Malaysia? who is fluent in Cantonese.

There is a very quick history lesson at the beginning from 1984 when the Joint Declaration was signed, until 2014 and then five years later when then chief executive Carrie Lam Cheng Yuet-ngor proposed the extradition bill.

Footage from the peaceful marches of June 9 and 16 are shown, mixed together with June 12 when the first shots of teargas were fired by the Legislative Council.

The protesters justified their actions by saying the government ignored them compared to what happened in 2003 when half a million people came out to protest Article 23 and then it was indefinitely shelved. 

People felt there was no point in protesting peacefully and then going back to work the next day -- they didn't want to be ignored by the government, and wanted to create change.

Uncle Fat gives context and concern

So on July 1 the protesters finished their march and went to Legco again -- this time ramming into the building with makeshift tools. Pro-democracy lawmakers like Fernando Cheung Chiu-hung, Wu Chi-wai, and Lam Cheuk-ting desperately tried to stop the protesters from doing this, saying this was not a productive way forward. It was heart-breaking watching them try to physically stop this overwhelming wave of anger and frustration.

However, with other pro-democracy lawmakers had been disqualified, the ones who were left were a small minority who could not make any substantive change, which is why these protesters insisted on taking matters into their own hands.

Thus began the relentless scenes of violent protests, the teargas canisters flying through the air, the police brutality meted on protesters they captured, the bloodied faces, throwing Molotov cocktails, and the beatings commuters suffered at the hands of white-shirted men on the night of July 21, 2019.

Many of the scenes of violence are relentless and excessively long, and could have been edited down further, though the director Twinkle Ngan is keen on having Love in the Time of Revolution as a record of what happened. Nevertheless, it was re-traumatising and hard to watch.

A lot of protest scenes can be re-traumatising

Uncle Fat is an interesting character who nonchalantly says he was once involved with the triads, and how they have become gangsters only interested in money, with regards to the Yuen Long attacks. He constantly shows his concern for the young protesters, but there aren't any particular scenes of him actually helping them.

Riya says she and her family have been discriminated, perhaps for the darkness of her skin (which doesn't seem apparent in the film), but that she feels accepted in the movement and feels proud to defend Hong Kong.

The young couple brings some brevity to the film, as they tease each other about their techniques when on the front line, and how she needs to run faster if she wants to avoid being arrested.

Following the Polytechnic University standoff, the film just ends, adding that the imposition of the national security law led to the arrest and detainment of 47 pro-democracy lawmakers and activists, and that over 10,000 people were arrested.

Mr Leader is concerned about keeping the movement going and how the rest of the population needs to be mobilised into action -- it seems only the young people are brave enough to go on the front lines, some he says are as young as 10. He asks why it is only these kids who are willing to fight the state, but that they are exhausted and someone else needs to take their place.

Tung with Lee (above) and Ngan (below)

There is no answer, but it is evident others do not want to face a 10-year prison sentence for rioting, nor do they want to face police brutality, particularly in the hands of the "raptors", who showed no mercy.

After the film ended, Ngan and former Apple Daily executive Simon Lee appeared on the screen via video call. Lee seemed visibly upset, dabbing his eyes not once but twice, moved by the film and Ngan's comments.

He said this film was an important record, as the Chinese and Hong Kong governments are actively trying to rewrite history. 

Ngan said many people have asked him what they can do as the Hong Kong diaspora community. He explained that he himself had moved to the UK, and that he would continue to tell stories. Ngan said it was important to not feel helpless, but to be involved in the movement in whatever way they wanted to be.

A young student said he was now in university in Vancouver, but had trouble getting his fellow Hongkonger students involved and was frustrated. Ngan replied that there are reasons why others cannot be as active as him, as they may want to go back to Hong Kong at some point so they need to keep a low profile and not to blame them.

A middle-aged woman asked what happened to the people in the film. Ngan said Uncle Fat had moved to the UK as well, and spoke at length about Riya. He said when he last contacted her she has just gotten out of jail, and that she would sing the protest anthem to give her hope and strength.

It seems the next logical step would be what happened to people and Hong Kong following the national security law in July 2020. Is anyone working on this next chapter? It is a crucial one that was a tipping point for many to leave.

Love in the Time of Revolution

Directed by Twinkle Ngan

107 minutes