S11.E05: Hong Kong

[ElectricBoogaloo]

Quote

Hong Kong, a city that’s always in transition and unapologetically modern has another side…a beautiful one that’s in danger of disappearing entirely. Bourdain experiences this city through the eyes and lens of legendary cinematographer and longtime Hong Kong resident Christopher Doyle (Chungking Express, In the Mood for Love, The White Girl).

[Yeah No]

I've been watching Tony for over 15 years and by now I'm a little tired of his romance with Asia, but I did enjoy this episode and the food looked fantastic.  Why can't I get short rib in my wonton  soup?

I related to the bits about gentrification.  It seems to be a trend around the world and people are not happy about some of the great things being lost as a result.

[ElectricBoogaloo]

How to get CNN to pay for your girlfriend to travel with you: have her direct the episode. 

And yes, I caught his non too subtle reference at the beginning of the episode about “falling in love with Asia.”

[ElectricBoogaloo]

Bourdain's blog on Hong Kong

Parts Unknown Hong Kong links

[Yeah No]

On 6/5/2018 at 1:42 AM, ElectricBoogaloo said:

How to get CNN to pay for your girlfriend to travel with you: have her direct the episode. 

And yes, I caught his non too subtle reference at the beginning of the episode about “falling in love with Asia.”

Yes and "falling in love in Asia" at the same time. 

Edited June 10, 2018 by Yeah No

[Athena]

I have also been watching and reading Bourdain for more than 15 years. I tend to watch his Asia episodes more than his other ones because his love for it does mean that the food is more central. There was good food in this episode, but it felt less than his older Asia ones. I do think it relates to how a lot of culture and food culture is eroding in HK. I've been to HK in the 90s, 2000s, and as recently as a few years ago, there is a sense that the Mainland has been choking it. I know one of my HK friends who is almost bitterly resentful about how the mainland and the government has changed HK. Still a great city to visit and I hope to go back again in the next couple of years. 

[Yeah No]

People that knew Tony personally and also those that followed him on social media said he was very proud of this episode because Asia and Christopher Doyle pitched in at the last minute with camera and directing work when someone on his staff took ill.  Only days before his death he was glowing about Asia and the episode in general.  It's very hard to believe that someone that was able to do that would only days later take their own life.   It's even hard for those that knew him well to believe that.  There was a lot he kept inside him, obviously.

Edited June 10, 2018 by Yeah No
directing not editing (my mistake)

[biakbiak]

Curious about that because when they were filming this Tony posted a lot and it was always going to be an Asia directed episode with Doyle doing the cinematography so it would be weird if they weren’t involved in the editing process.

[Yeah No]

This from this article:

Quote

To my surprise and eternal gratitude, after years of my reaching out, Doyle agreed to appear on my show. Plans were made, tickets bought, equipment packed. Then, a few days before we were set to shoot the June 3 episode, our director was hospitalized for emergency gallbladder surgery.

What to do? I needed a director, someone with whom the notoriously unpredictable Doyle would feel a rapport. Fortunately, I'd met Asia Argento two years previously, on our Rome show. I'd initially reached out to her because of my admiration for her last directorial effort, Incompresa — and because of her fascinating Twitter feed, filled with iconoclastic references to films, music, books and artists I'd thought only I'd ever heard of. That turned out to be one of the better decisions of my life. I thought, "If Chris Doyle is going to get along with anybody, it's an outlier, don't-give-a-shit-about-convention workaholic, like Asia."

Well, that, too, ended up being a very, very good idea.

In the end, Christopher mother­f-ing Doyle, one of the greatest living cinematographers, became the director of photography for my crappy little television show.

[biakbiak]

Thanks I was confused by your initial post that said editing work. Weird on his Instastoey he implied that it was always going to be Doyle doing cinemaphotography 

[ElectricBoogaloo]

I always enjoy when he goes to Hong Kong. You'd think after multiple visits/episodes to Hong Kong over the years on his various shows, he wouldn't find anything new to eat or talk about, but there is so much to see, eat, and do there that he always finds good stuff. And Hong Kong is definitely one of those places to watch since they reverted back to China. I was surprised he didn't mention the Yellow Umbrella movement when discussing how Hong Kong has changed as a result of the government continuing to take back control. That was HUGE.

I remember the bamboo noodle guy being featured several years ago. I can't remember if it was one of Bourdain's earlier shows or someone else entirely, but the image of him going up and down is pretty hard to forget.

[Athena]

41 minutes ago, ElectricBoogaloo said:

I remember the bamboo noodle guy being featured several years ago. I can't remember if it was one of Bourdain's earlier shows or someone else entirely, but the image of him going up and down is pretty hard to forget.

Yes it is hard to forget that image, and I believe it was a different chef than the earlier show. The chef was older than the one featured in this episode.