When film director Mamoru Oshii was looking for a model of the city of the future for his seminal 1995 animated film adaptation of Ghost in the Shell (based on the manga by Masamune Shirow), he turned to the cityscape of Hong Kong for his inspiration. Actual spots in the city were recreated for use in this cinematic representation of a near-future city (set in 2029) characterised by decadence, anarchy, and fantastical high-tech hyper-reality. One mise-en-scène in particular captures the essence of the city in beautiful, almost dreamlike, detail which intrigued me long before I had the chance to explore the real Hong Kong for myself:
I remember reading this around the time I moved to Hong Kong over a decade ago. Now most of those overhanging street sings and almost all neon signs are gone.
