This morning I was feeling as though I might be coming down with something (just in time for a trip to Shanghai!) and I had decided to stay in, do some chores and relax. I was in the middle of a skype conversation with my mom when my room phone rang. Normally the only time it rings is when someone at the front desk needs to get in touch with me, so I was surprised to hear Zoe on the line. She was calling from a friend's phone to tell me that Wong Karwai was on campus and was about to give a talk in the Arts Building.
As soon as I heard that I told my somewhat confused mom I had to run and I half-walked half-ran to the arts building. It was easy to find the place where he was going to be, as there was a big crowd of people waiting outside. There were no seats left, but people were still hoping to be allowed in. A number of Zoe's classmates who had come in the hopes of seeing the presentation decided it was too crowded and that they were going to give up. But a few of us remained. At one point, we were at the front of a large crowd in front of the doors to the auditorium and then the organizers tried to get everyone to move backwards. In order to accomplish this, some of them tried pushing people back. One unfortunate person chose to push Zoe's Polish classmate (who was already incensed that we weren't going to be able to get seats). The Polish classmate was furious and gave that person a terrifying glare and told her not to touch her. The pusher was sufficiently intimidated and started apologizing, but nothing seemed to assuage the girl's rage. I was actually kind of embarrassed to be near her...but given that we were the only two obvious foreigners there, it was inevitable that we were thought to be together. I tried nervously smiling and laughing to soften the blow.
After a bit, the Polish girl (for some crazy reason) moved far away from the doors to the auditorium...bad strategy if you were hoping to get inside....never, ever lose your ground. Me, zoe and a Korean classmate did not follow suit. We planted ourselves against the wall next to the doors and just didn't move. This eventually resulted in us being right at the front of the line. When the organizers finally agreed to let us in, standing room only, we were able to get in rather quickly (in spite of the angry calls of students further back in line who were concerned they wouldn't get in).
In the end, I think most of the students who stayed and were persistent got into the show. Here's a picture of the three of us feeling triumphant to be inside, finally.
Here are some pictures of the auditorium. The huge crowd standing in the corner is in front of the doorway where we waited to get inside.
And the crowd just kept getting bigger and bigger.
There were tons of media people in front, and many students also had really nice cameras or camcorders, like the girl below with the gigantic lens.
The first people on stage were the hostess and three people...one a writer, one a comic book artist and one...I don't remember. They opened by talking about their thoughts on the film 'Ashes of Time' which was originally shot in 1992 but which Wong Karwai has recently recut and remastered. The event, as it turns out was based around this re-release. I know the picture below sucks, but I didn't realize until I downloaded it that the guy with the video camera appears to be filming us as I was taking a picture and I kind of like it for that reason.
I took a video of his entrance, but I can't get it to upload properly. So instead, here's Wong Karwai, looking rather tiny, wearing shades. My zoom is not the greatest.
Here's an attempt to zoom in for a close-up.
They showed a couple trailers for the re-release and then they revealed a giant poster for the film and the movie (and with the topics of the day on it too).
Wong Karwai looking a little bored or maybe just very thoughtful.
It was an interesting day! Anyway, I'm off to Shanghai tomorrow for about a week or perhaps a bit more. Hope I don't actually get sick!!!
