frappant

I don't know if people in HK can stream it but Amazon Prime Video is streaming a limited series called Expats, based on a novel by a HK-born American writer called The Expatriates. It was adapted for TV by another Chinese-American woman, Lulu Wang, born in Beijing but educated in the US.

So this was a controversial production because the HK govt. granted an exception for star Nicole Kidman and some other cast and crew to enter HK during the height of the covid lockdown. Supposedly the locals were highly offended that some outsiders were given special privileges during difficult time.

I believe the novel was well-received but this show has mixed reviews at best. Lot of things are said to have been changed from the novel.

The story, set in early 2014 (they have TV on in the background talking about the Malaysian flight that disappeared early in that year), is about a tragic event and all the leading characters, at least through the first 3 episodes, are unhappy people. Some of them live a life of privilege, huge apartments on the Peak with chauffeured driven private cars.

I'm watching because it tries to evoke a HK which may no longer exist, though it's not showing the famous skyline or other things you associate with HK. They showed a Mongkok night market but that setting has a special meaning in the context of the story.

But it was filmed during the lockdown and they tried to show normal street life as well as people gathering in crowded bars and restaurants. I would assume those scenes were created for the show because a lot of places were closed during the lockdown?

The third episode is titled Mid-Levels and they briefly show one of the characters going up the escalators but eavesdropping on conversations of some people ahead of her. The title has another meaning in the context of the story.

Anyways, HKers who might remember the controversy of people involved with this show being allowed to enter HK may be interested to know what they have produced.

tauphi

This is a common misunderstanding for folks who didn't live in China/Hong Kong/Australia/NZ during the pandemic (and possibly vice versa). While these countries may have experienced sporadic lockdowns at various stages, they were never in place for any extended period of time. In other words life remained pretty much as usual, EXCEPT that the borders were firmly shut with mandatory quarantine for people entering these places. Even if you travelled between these fenced-off countries, you still had to do quarantine just as if you were flying in from the USA (except Nicole Kidman was allowed to do a more relaxed version of the quarantine when entering HK, and she got a lot of flak for that).

I was in Hong Kong in late 2021 (just before Omicron exploded and real lockdown arrived in HK) and everything looked normal. Apart from the dearth of tourists, mandatory mask wearing (this is something peculiar to HK, people in Australia/NZ never wore masks much until Delta sneaked through in June 2021) Mong Kok felt just as busy as before.

PaulC852

There was never any "lockdown" in HK in the sense that it happened in, say, the UK (i.e. people only allowed to leave home for specific purposes). The hysteria only extended to masks and restrictions on restaurants (briefly closing them at 6pm because, as we all know, the virus was much more dangerous after dark). There was a "vaccine pass" scheme for a while but that was readily circumvented by those who preferred not to take experimental injections. A few other places like gyms, swimming pools, museums etc were also closed for varying lengths of time and live music banned (although there were some creative ways round that).

frappant

Well restaurants were definitely a problem with the pandemic. One of the first and worst breakouts was some potluck event with hundreds of people.

The show has these two very rich characters, who live in palatial apartments on the Peak, going to some small, cramped noodle place. They also like to go to night markets.

US HK UK flyer

I was living in HK when they were filming it and go back for lengthy periods several times a year so I have a sense of how accurate the depiction is.

It isn't that much of a "world that doesn't still exist;" there are still many wealthy expats in HK (if fewer than before). The main characters are definitely depicted as somewhat wealthier than the average expat though. Having live-in help is fairly normal but living on the Peak and having an always on call personal driver is a level above normal expat privilege I would say. Not all expats (probably not a majority) live in all-expat buildings/communities either.

The Korean-American character helps establish that there are poorer expats in HK, too. But I wondered what kind of visa this character was on that she could work gig jobs with presumably periods of unemployment in between (actually this is something that would be more realistic today, post-pandemic, with the introduction of the talent visa since the character went to a top university and wouldn't need a visa tied to a job).

Probably the biggest difference is that there are apparently some large protest scenes later in the series and those aren't happening anymore.

The strangest thing about the series in relation to when it was filmed though is that they managed to have large amounts of extras on the street not wearing masks. At the time, mask wearing was compulsory even outside.

tauphi

It's not a problem when there is zero Covid. Hong Kong maintained a Zero-Covid policy until Omicron exploded onto the scene in Jan 2022.

Pickles

The show is not available in Hong Kong, which is rather ironic given that it was filmed in Hong Kong and I would assume that the authorities knew what the subject matter was about. I saw the first two episodes, and found the series rather annoying. Pretty much all the characters are unpleasant and have no redeeming qualities, and are generally miserable, even though they live in a sort of paradise. Nicole Kidman, a 56 year-old woman with obvious, disturbing-looking plastic surgery is the wrong person to play a young mother.

As for the level of "expatness", I do think it is somewhat extreme, even within the parameters of Peak-dwelling gweilo. In particular because expats that have this kind of money usually are too busy to be moping around and acting all butthurt over some first-world problem. They are usually on planes, conference calls, or business meetings, and probably don't have much time to be acting all dejected like that. The characters in this series appear not to have any particular occupation, or at least one that takes up any of their time, which is not how things work.

kevincrumbs

I haven't seen it myself but I have read a few reviews of it from various sites. However, I will say that as a native Hong Konger, my Texas born spouse told me that she decided to watch it while I was out of town because she (correctly) assumed that I wouldn't be interested in it

frappant

Margaret (NK) did suffer a very traumatic event, though she didn't really want a third kid yet but once he was lost, it broke her.

In the second episode flash backs, she wanted to leave HK but her husband gets another lucrative contract offer and she's having to defer her career as a landscape architect because there aren't too many expansive private gardens in HK.

But in the first episode, she insists that HK is their home and that they will be staying. Meanwhile she rented a small dingy apartment in Kowloon that she escapes to, to be by herself. In the third episode they will show that she's still obsessing over finding her son.

Mercy went to Columbia -- not clear if she graduated -- but decides to escape to HK to wait tables, because she didn't want to live with her mother?

Hilary tries to save her failing marriage. Her husband is secretly drinking and having an affair with Mercy. That is the part I don't get, he spends a lot of time in bars or in hotels away from his wife yet he must be making crazy money for them to have a huge apartment, live-in housekeeper, private chauffeured Mercedes and a separate hotel for himself. When does he work to be able to afford all these things?

Can't be typical of the HK expat lifestyle? They must pay very well to lure Westerners to live in HK but seems like a lot.

Yes the characters live a life of privilege but are unhappy. Not sure if that's suppose to suggest expats aren't happy in general. Presumably they'd only stay a year or two if life as a foreigner in HK was so difficult.

Pickles

The lifestyles shown in the series are unrealistic, even for well-compensated expats. The number of fly-in expats on lucrative "hardship pay" contracts has been declining, and I don't think there are more than a handful left, probably negotiated deals long time ago and by inertia continue to get all kinds of privileges: huge housing allowances, car and driver, club memberships, generous home leave, etc. The people portrayed in the show are too "young" (at least pretend to be, here's looking at you NK) to be recipients of such corporate largesse. If you were making that kind of dosh, you'd probably be too busy to have any time to mope, much less have an affair and drink like a fish.

Some expats take to the place, others can't wait to get out. The ones in this show are, for some reason, have the "can't wait to get out" attitude but remain. That is unusual, as people who don't like the place move on fairly quickly. If you don't like it, it can be a living hell. On the other hand, I know many, many, many expats, and most of them looove the place, even now. Really think of it as their home. They think of it as their home so much that those who left because of the protests and the pandemic restrictions did so very reluctantly. My forecast is that many of them will go to other places (e.g. the US, Australia, Canada, UK, Singapore), be there for a couple of years, conclude "what the hell is this crap" and come back to Hong Kong.

frappant

The show is set in 2014. The TV in the background referred to the Malaysian airliner that disappeared that year.

Will they show the Umbrella Revolution protests that occurred later that year? Maybe just something in the background of all this personal turmoil.

Pickles

They do, and that's apparently why the show can't be watched in Hong Kong. Not clear if it was the government that denied permission or Amazon self-censoring for "an abundance of caution."

frappant

Oh wow, that makes sense.

It really is showing, or trying to show, a HK from the before times ...

US HK UK flyer

A lawmaker went so far as to make a statement they didn't censor it (https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/...ised-lifestyle), and there is no law limiting content on streaming services; only films shown in theaters can be limited.

The whole thing was Amazon's decision. It might be because they fear protest scenes expose them to liability or just because they didn't bother dealing with whatever licensing issues arose for showing it in HK, a small and sometimes forgotten jurisdiction when it comes to "worldwide releases" of streaming series (has happened before).

I can't emphasize enough that the show though is 99% not political content and that rich expats still live boring rich lives in HK, so it doesn't feel that "before times."

Pickles

That's what's pathetic about the series, which shows rich expats living boring rich lives in Hong Kong, while most expats I know (rich or poor) lead pretty interesting lives in Hong Kong.