Saturday, October 4, 2014

Ferry to Hong Kong - Curt Jurgens (1959) - Round Island nr Repulse Bay, Hong Kong

In a linking shot that supposedly portrays the ferry (named the Fa Tsan in the film) as it paddles its way into Macau, we see a quick glimpse of Round Island (Chinese: 銀洲) that looks to have been taken from the Repulse Bay Road - from the angle I would estimate somewhere near to the where it gets joined by Belleview Drive. I'm not familiar with the 1959 version of the road so have no idea if there were lookout spots around there. I suspect there was though.


In fact, that may possibly be part of the road we can see on the right hand side. Either that or a pathway or terraced garden. Either way, we can see Round Island on the left behind the tree (look closely and you can also just see the tip of Tau Chau sticking into the edge of the screen), the headland that disappears into the distance is in fact the south eastern coast of Lamma Island and the closer, green hillside behind the road (or whatever it is) is in fact the side of Middle Island.

Unfortunately for me there are no great comparisons to be found using GoogleEarth because much of the roadside is now covered in trees (which is a good thing) obscuring the view out to sea. But below I have included a Streetview picture taken from the much lower Seaview Promenade. You don't get quite the same awesome angle, but at least to get to see the bit I am writing about.


And, of course, clear days like the one we see on the film only really happen in the summertime, so I guess the Streetview was a wintertime affair.

3 comments:

Anonymous said...

Hi Phil,

I suspect the drive way was likely the previous version of #50 Repluse Bay Road. However I do not know where the camera stood as the angle suggest it was off road. Maybe somewhere inside Eucliffe?.

Thanks & Best Regards,
Thomas

Phil said...

Hi Thomas - it certianly could be a driveway, but it would've had to start much closer in towards Repulse Bay, I feel.
Eucliffe isn't in the shot and most of it was way below the level of the road, however, its famous tower would seem to be a good vantage point for getting this shot and would explain why we can't see it (Eucliffe) and perhaps why we can't see Repulse Bay Road (assuming the road we can see is not it). SO I wonder if the film makers went and asked if they could stick a camera up there?
Cheers
Phil

Anonymous said...

Hi Phil,

If they have one of those lever mechanism with a counter weight with hydralics for camera and mount it on a truck, they could certain extend the camera beyond Repulse Bay Road. But that would put the truck on the slope.

Anyway, got to walk along that section of Repulse Bay Road to take a look next time. But the trees there would probably block the view.

I also wonder if the Tower of Eucliff would fit the scene. It's quite tall as far as I could recall.

Thanks & Best Regards,
Thomas

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