Street smart

Sign of the times

Taken as a whole, Drifting demonstrates a major leap for Li as a filmmaker, who this time around put less emphasis on traditional narrative and exposition and more on considered emotions.

"In a very logical way, scriptwriting is all about cause and effect," notes Li. "My producer (Man Pui-hing) kept asking, 'What happened to Fai before the story?' There were lots of possible choices, but ultimately I refused to explain Fai's circumstances. It felt like if I gave the character a reason it would be superficial. People fight because they feel compelled to, and in the end, my producer respected that. The collective action is the film. Why they are all there is not."

Drifting is hitting Hong Kong screens at a time when filmmakers are frequently turning their lenses on the most marginalized members of society, like the working poor "McRefugees" in Danny Wong Hing-fan's I'm Livin' It, and Fruit Chan's forthcoming Coffin Homes, due for a release in August. As the wealth gap seems to widen, made worse by the pandemic, earning a living wage is a challenge and the fine line between having a place to live and not is becoming finer. The precarious nature of such existence is making its way to mainstream consciousness through cinema.

Li considers the trend, and Drifting's part in it. Speaking purely for Hong Kong, he notes that past generations "were taught to embrace earning money, buying a home and having a family." No young person he knows could expect to ever be able to own a home, he adds. It's a reality that underpins the shifts we're seeing in the world.

"The dream does not exist, and we've all started looking for alternatives. I think it's just our reality now. We need to think about different ways of living," Li says, adding, "It also suggests another form of family, one that's chosen."