The Bucket List - Morgan Freeman (2007) - Victoria Harbour View

Finishing up this year with another one of my "not really filmed here but posting anyway" posts. This time it is from the 2007 movie, The Bucket List, starring Morgan Freeman and Jack Nicholson as two terminally ill ageing men ticking things off their bucket list before they eventually croak. There is a very brief scene, supposedly set in Hong Kong, as Freeman's character is approached by an attractive member of the opposite sex as he sits and drinks in a hotel lobby.

The establishing shot for the scene is a view across the harbour at night time, as below, looking towards Central. However, the subsequent interior shots don't appear to have been filmed in Hong Kong - largely because the view out of the windows in the background suggest the hotel location is somewhere at the seaward end of Ocean Terminal. I'm not aware of any large hotels in that area with this view and obvious huge lounge space, but it is a while since I was in that location so am only 99.9% sure this time.

Anyway, suffice to say, the film's HK hotel scenes appear to have been shot in a studio (or at least a real hotel somewhere else with the Hong Kong skyline added into the background) which makes me think the harbour view in the first image is probably stock footage from somewhere.

La Moustache - Vincent Lindon (2005) - Sai Kung Public Pier, Sai Kung

Our final post for this film takes us to Sai Kung proper and the original public pier - a very familiar location for me after spending several years heading here at the weekends to join a diving trip or two. This is the pier where the "casino" boat is located and where the last portion of the film plays out with Marc seemingly reunited with his wife.

La Moustache - Vincent Lindon (2005) - Ko Lau Wan, Sai Kung Country Park

The boat that Marc catches a lift from takes him to some unknown small village by the sea and the various reviews/descriptions I have read of the film have described it as either Macau or Bali. This is because the seaside isn't usually something you associate with Hong Kong despite the fact that the territory is an archipelago of several hundred islands, most of which are uninhabited. Anyway, the real location used in the film was neither Macau nor Bali but in fact Ko Lau Wan in the far reaches of the north eastern New Territories.

Believe it or not this part of Sai Kung Country Park actually falls under the administrative care of Tai Po District - a fact largely centered on the historical anomaly that Tai Po was the most convenient market town for the inhabitants of this area to reach (and this is why the Sai Kung North Rural Affairs Committee building is also in Tai Po Market and not Sai Kung).

Anyway, I digress. Marc finds a small hotel and basically sticks around until his moustache grows back. By which time the film starts to get a bit confusing and it's hard to know if what we are watching is supposed to be real or part of his imagination. I think the ambiguity might be the point.

La Moustache - Vincent Lindon (2005) - Kwun Tong Waterfront, Kwun Tong

Marc ends up spending so much time going backwards and forwards on the ferry that he eventually runs out of time and when he tries to get back across the harbour he finds that the pier has closed. So he wanders off to try a get a lift from one of the boats moored by the waterfront. This next scene, where he finds a boat and gets the deck hand to let him on board, was filmed along the Kwun Tong waterfront. You wouldn't recognise it now though because much effort and money was expended in turning this place into a public park called the "Kwun Tong Promenade". The only thing you will recognise today is the Kwun Tong bypass which you can see in the background of the screen capture.

La Moustache - Vincent Lindon (2005) - The Intercontinental Hotel, Tsim Sha Tsui

It looks like Marc is staying at the Intercontinental Hotel in Tsim Sha Tsui. The angle on the Hong Kong Convention and Exhibition Centre (New Wing) on the opposite side of the harbour is a dead giveaway but the film also acknowledges the hotel in its credits. As of writing the IC is undergoing a renovation and I believe is about to be renamed back to its original name - The Regent Hotel - courtesy of the IC group taking a majority shareholding in the Regent Hotel Group.

La Moustache - Vincent Lindon (2005) - Nathan Road, Kowloon

On another of Marc's walkabouts, we see him crossing Nathan Road at the large crossing next to the junction with Haiphong Road. I'm fairly certain the Superstar Seafood Restaurant has long gone, but I think the Zurich Watch Company is still in the same location today.

La Moustache - Vincent Lindon (2005) - Central Walkways, Hong Kong

 In between ferry trips, Marc also wanders the streets and one of these scenes sees him walking along the walkway in front of Exchange Square. In the images below the camera is placed on the walkway connecting Exchange Square with Worldwide House looking west along Connaught Road.

La Moustache - Vincent Lindon (2005) - Star Ferry Piers

On arriving in Hong Kong, Marc finds almost immediate solace by travelling to and fro of the Star Ferry and there is probably a ten minute sequence in the film that features him walking in and out of ferries on both sides of the harbour as he fishes for change to give to the lady in the booth. It's possible that this was one of the last films shot in the old Central Star Ferry Pier before it was unceremoniously demolished in 2006. Remember that the old art deco style clock on the pier was supposed to be saved but was then sneakily destroyed and dumped when no one was watching. Anyway, the following screencaps capture the piers at both sides of the TST <> Central route as well as the "Solar Star" ferry. Apparently, the ferry started service in 1958 making it one of the longest serving in the current fleet.

La Moustache - Vincent Lindon (2005) - Tai Kok Tsui Elevated Road, Kowloon

Back to my mainstay of foreign/overseas film productions now and I have managed to grab hold of a copy of the 2005 French film, La Moustache. The story revolves around the seemingly psychological fallout from a guy, Marc (Vincent Lindon), deciding to shave off his signature moustache. All things are not as they seem and it's one of those films where you no longer know what is supposed to be real and what isn't.

Anyway, after shaving off his moustache and spending some time in is native Paris seemingly going mad, Marc heads to the airport to escape being committed and buys a ticket for the next available flight, which happens to be to Hong Kong.

Cue our opening Hong Kong-based shots as Marc sits in cab, apparently on his way downtown from the airport. However, this first sequence is a car-shot one filmed driving north along the elevated highway that runs above Tai Kok Tsui Road.

The shot opens on the Tai Kok Tsui HSBC building (top image), which has subsequently been obscured by the newly built "Floriant Rise" development. The following screen captures show the view - looking west from the flyover - along Ka Shin Street (Skyway House at the far end), Fuk Chak Street, Li Tak Street and finally Ivy Street with the McDonalds in the foreground.

Infernal Affairs - Andy Lau (2002) - Chai Wan North No.2 Fresh Water Service Reservoir, Chai Wan

The final grave scenes in the movie almost look as though they were shot on the roof of a building with some astroturf laid down, but it turns out that the grass is real and belongs to the Chai Wan North No.2 Fresh Water Service Reservoir which sits on the north slope of Sai Wan hill (the same hill that has the battery at the top and the not-so-long ago mentioned Lei Yue Mun Holiday Park). It's possibly a popular filming spot because it has its own entry on the film services office website.

Infernal Affairs - Andy Lau (2002) - Sunshine Kowloon Bay Cargo Centre, Kowloon Bay

The warehouse where Sam (Eric Tsang) does all his nefarious business appears to be one of the crime boss's biggest secrets and it's here where Lau Kin-ming (Andy Lau) puts his plan into action to free himself from his criminal past. The establishing shot for the warehouse uses the Sunshine Kowloon Bay Cargo Centre, with its distinctive spiral entry/exit ramp, but I am not so sure the interiors were filmed there - after finding some shots from the inside of the place, it doesn't appear to match.

Infernal Affairs - Andy Lau (2002) - Kowloon Bay MTR Station, Kowloon

As Anthony Wong heads out for his clandestine meeting with Tong Leung, he is followed to Kowloon Bay MTR station by one of the internal affairs detectives who has been tasked to find out where he is heading.

Infernal Affairs - Andy Lau (2002) - Former Government Building, Prince Edward Road East

I mentioned that the internal police station scenes, at least those of Andy Lau's office, were filmed somewhere other than Ngau Tau Kok Police Station. The building, whose name and purpose I have yet to discover, was located where "The Latitude" (a residential development) now stands at the corner of Prince Edward Road East and Choi Hung Road. All I know is that it was a Government building and was most likely vacated for demolition at the time, which is why the production company were able to use it.

Look carefully through the window behind Lau in the screen caps below and you can see the curved slip road that takes traffic from Choi Hung Road down onto the south bound section of Prince Edward Road East at the northern boundary of the former Kai Tak site. What I can't say for sure is when this building was demolished - sometime around the mid-00s - and whether or not it was also used for the other interior police station scenes (I'm guessing yes).

If anyone knows what the building was used for, please feel free to send a mail or leave a comment.

Infernal Affairs - Andy Lau (2002) - Ngau Tau Kok Police Station, Kowloon Bay

The exterior shots for the main police station were filmed outside the real life Ngau Tau Kok police station on Siu Yip Street. There were a few scenes filmed here including the scene where Anthony Wong leaves the station on the fateful day and is followed by one of the other cops, but also a night scene later in the film when Tony Leung does a runner after realising who the mole is. The interior scenes for Andy Lau's office were filmed in a totally different building which I shall cover in the next post.

Infernal Affairs - Andy Lau (2002) - Golden Gateway Multiplex Cinema, Tsim Sha Tsui

Chan follows his boss to the cinema in order to try and catch whoever it is who he is meeting. As the contact leaves he is silhouetted against the screen so an identification is not possible. As a result, he tries to see who it is by following him outside. This sequence was filmed at the (now closed) Golden Gateway cinema along Canton Road in Tsim Sha Tsui. Spot the advert for K19: The Widowmaker behind Tony Leung in the top image.

Infernal Affairs - Andy Lau (2002) - Broadcast Drive, Kowloon

The establishing shot for Andy Lau's home/apartment was done on Broadcast Drive in Kowloon. The high rise building that is at the end of the street (1, Broadcast Drive) has since been demolished and replaced by a new development called "One Mayfair" but the property walls that can be seen in the first screen cap are still the same on either side of the road today.

Infernal Affairs - Andy Lau (2002) - Connaught Road, Central

Chan is called on the phone by his police boss and told to find out who the police mole is. He takes the call on the walkways that straddle the Hang Seng building and One IFC. This is the same location used in 2013 for the car bomb and gunfight scene in Blackhat, although that film wasn't released until 2015.

Infernal Affairs - Andy Lau (2002) - Kwun Tong Ferry Pier, Kwun Tong

Following the drug bust at the beach and the revelation that there is a mole in the police department, Lau's character is promoted to Internal Affairs and charged with finding the mole (i.e. himself). This happens at a meeting where his superior officers are whacking some balls at a golf driving range. However, rather than film at a real golfing range (there were actually quite a few urban ranges in Kowloon at this time), the crew decided the top of the ferry pier would be a better option. I guess it had better views. The bit they filmedon is the raised bit in the centre of the roof. These days it's had some railings put around there (maybe some location fans tried to get up there?).

Infernal Affairs - Andy Lau (2002) - Fa Yuen Street, Mongkok

The location of the drug deal with the Thais is a corner building on the junction of Fa Yuen Street and Shantung Street. The curved building where the drug deal is supposedly taking place - or at least the exterior establishing shot - is the Pak Cheung building on the NW corner of the junction. The cops, on the other hand, are located in the building on the opposite corner which is in fact a school building called G.T (Ellen Yeung) College. The fire escape where Andy Lau makes a phone call can be seen on the Fa Yuen Street side of the building and it looks like they were on the very top floor which has a covered walkway across the top of the building.

Looking west along Shantung Street

Looking north up Fa Yuen Street from G.T College

Andy Lau on the G.T College fire escape. Looking down onto Fa Yuen Street

View down onto the Fa Yuen Street entrance to the Pak Cheung building