In “Blue Island,” a hybrid of documentary and dramatization from the director Chan Tze Woon, real-life students from contemporary Hong Kong perform re-enactments of the political struggles of previous generations.

導演陳梓桓的《憂鬱之島》(Blue Island)是紀錄片和劇情片的結合，由真實生活中的當代香港學生們重演了前幾代人的政治抗爭。

Two students, Anson Sham and Siu Ying, step into the shoes of a couple, Chan Hak-chi and Git Hing, who fled to Hong Kong from the Cultural Revolution in 1973; part of the re-enactment of the escape is crosscut with documentary footage of a crackdown on demonstrators in Hong Kong in 2019. Elsewhere, Keith Fong Chung-yin, a student activist, meets with and plays Kenneth Lam, who traveled to Beijing in 1989 in solidarity with the protesters in Tiananmen Square.

兩名學生岑軍諺和田小凝飾演一對戀人，即1973年「文化大革命」期間逃往香港的陳克治和李潔馨；部分逃生重演的鏡頭與2019年香港鎮壓示威者的紀錄片片段進行交叉剪輯。學生活動人士方仲賢扮演了1989年前往北京聲援天安門廣場抗議者的港人林耀強，並與後者會面。

The younger subjects’ recent experiences color their portrayals. “You’re not just playing a 20-year-old Kenneth in the ’80s. You are also playing yourself,” the director instructs Fong, in one of many moments when the movie breaks the fourth wall. Elsewhere, Raymond Young, incarcerated by the British for bulletins he circulated in 1967, sits in a prison cell with Kelvin Tam Kwan-long, the student protester playing him (who notes that he’s been charged with rioting and is awaiting trial himself), and tells him that time will erode his ideals.

年輕主演們不久前的經歷影響了他們的角色飾演。「你不僅僅是在扮演80年代時20歲的肯尼斯（即林耀強）。你也是在扮演你自己，」導演在影片打破第四堵牆的眾多時刻之一這樣告訴方仲賢。片中還有這樣一幕，因為在1967年散發傳單而被英國人監禁的楊宇傑和飾演他的學生抗議者譚鈞朗（他提到自己正被控暴亂，在等待審判）在同一間牢房裡，前者告訴後者，時間會侵蝕他的理想。

“Blue Island” shows how Hong Kong residents have redefined themselves over time. Tam, while playing Young in 1967, defiantly tells a British official that he is Chinese. A moment later, Tam, still in costume but now appearing as himself, insists to an interrogator that he is not Chinese, but a Hong Konger.

《憂鬱之島》展示了香港居民隨著時間推移如何重新定義自己。在扮演1967年的楊宇傑時，譚鈞朗大膽地告訴一名英國官員他是中國人。過了一會兒，仍然穿著戲服的譚鈞朗以自己的身份出現，他向審訊人員堅稱自己不是中國人，而是香港人。

The movie concludes with a lengthy, silent montage of people who have faced charges for their involvement in pro-democracy activism. It is impossible to watch “Blue Island” without admiring their courage. The past-present parallelism is provocative, but it also seems faintly superficial — a way of eliding distinctions and streamlining history.

影片結尾是一系列無聲的畫面，鏡頭中是那些因參與民主活動而面臨指控的人們。看《憂鬱之島》的時候，不可能不佩服他們的勇氣。片中過去與現在的並置是發人深省的，但也稍顯淺薄——這是一種略去差異和簡化歷史的方式。

Blue Island Not rated. In Cantonese, Mandarin and English, with subtitles. Running time: 1 hour 37 minutes. In theaters.

《憂鬱之島》：未評級。粵語、普通話和英語，有字幕。片長：1小時37分鐘。正在影院上映。