Something Good - Luca Barbareschi (2013) - Hong Kong's most prolific graffiti artist - Mr Yim Chiu-tong

I will finish the posts for the film on a capture taken some point in the middle of the movie as Matteo walks through one of Hong Kong's many back alleyways. It's a location that is too difficult to pin down but I though it was interesting to share because it features some graffiti on a wall that will be familiar to anyone who has been in Hong Kong over the past 15 years or so.

The graffiti (通渠 92263203 免棚) has been done by a plumber, Mr Yim Chiu-tong, who simply leaves his number and services on what must now be thousands of locations all over Hong Kong Island, Kowloon and the New Territories. You can be out on a hike somewhere fairly difficult to reach and just towards the end as you descend back into civilisation, there on the roadside is Mr Yim's recognisable calling card. This guy's handiwork is everywhere.

I recall Chris Dewolf wrote an article about him on his Urban Photo blog several years ago. Sadly the blog appears to have been removed but good old Mr Dewolf appears to be moving some of its content over to Zolima City Mag where he has written many great pieces on local history and culture. Coincidentally, he has redone/rewritten his article about Mr Yim and it can be seen here: https://zolimacitymag.com/meet-plumber-king-hong-kong-unexpected-graffiti-icon/.

I've been keeping my eye out for a while to see if Mr Yim's painting efforts have ever made it into one of the more recent movies and am pleased to see that it has now been preserved in all of its celluloid digital glory.

Something Good - Luca Barbareschi (2013) - Temple Street, Yau Ma Tei

Trying to draw out this film as much as I can (because I have nothing in backup after running out of sources) and figured I would give this rather difficult location a stab. After a few minutes (!) I realised this is the rooftop of a building located on the corner of the junction between Saigon Street and Temple Street.

You can't actually see Temple Street in this shot because it is below the frame of the shot but the rooftop the two are talking on has a Temple Street address (#151). The street that is implied by the gap in the buildings behind Gary Lewis is in fact Saigon Street running from bottom right to centre frame. The two buildings on the opposite side facing Saigon Street stand at either side of the junction with Shanghai Street.

In addition to the above rooftop shot, in another part of the film is a shot used as part of a transition sequence that shows what I believe to be the view to the north from this exact same spot. You can just make out the red/orange paint job of the Alhambra Building behind the netted scaffolding on the left, followed by Honour House in the middle (behind the green netting) and finally the stripey exterior of the Hang Shing Building on the right.

Something Good - Luca Barbareschi (2013) - Container Terminal 8, Stonecutters Island

The film finale takes place in the container terminal on the northern side of the expanded-by-reclamation Stonecutters Island with Stonecutters Bridge in the background.

Something Good - Luca Barbareschi (2013) - Central Pier 9, Hong Kong

Mr Feng meets up with the crooked copper (is there any other type at the moment?) to discuss what to do with Matteo. The rendezvous location is Pier No.9 along the Central harbourfront. This is one of the two public-use piers at the end of the long line of ferry piers in front of the IFC. To be honest, it was much better when the harbourfront wasn't reclaimed and boats would use Queen's Pier, but those days are long gone.

Something Good - Luca Barbareschi (2013) - Intercontinental Hotel, Tsim Sha Tsui

After wandering in the rain and pondering her predicament, Jiazhen goes to see Matteo at his hotel. This appears to be yet another different hotel used for the production because, if I am not mistaken, this appears to be the Intercontinental Hotel in Tsim Sha Tsui - specifically one of the levels that leads out onto one of the roof terraces the hotel has.

Something Good - Luca Barbareschi (2013) - Pottinger Street, Central

After being told the truth about Matteo by the police, Jiazhen wanders around the streets in the pouring rain as she decides what to do. This shot was on Pottinger Street, famous for its stone slab steps at various points of its climb up the hillside.

Something Good - Luca Barbareschi (2013) - Lei Yue Mun Park and Holiday Village (former barracks), Shau Kei Wan

We were here not so long ago for the Police training scenes in Infernal Affairs and the former barracks at Lei Yue Mun is again featured as a police station in this film. It's the station where Michael Wong's detective works and where Jiazhen is taken for questioning when suspicion falls on Matteo. The presence of the trimmed bushes in the background which spell out the park name in Chinese characters, mean that we know the block they used for these shots is Block 18. It's the same block that can be seen in the background of this shot.

Something Good - Luca Barbareschi (2013) - Kwai Tsing Road, Tsuen Wan

Matteo goes to meet one of his Hong Kong contacts (played by Gary Lewis) to try and work out what is going on. This is just one of the many times these two meet and at this meeting it appears that they are at a container processing terminal. That is indeed the Kwai Tsing container processing terminal, but the location where they are standing is actually on the Kwai Tsing Road just before it turns into the Kwai Tsing Bridge crossing over to Tsing Yi Island. The top image is looking south with Hong Kong Island in the far distance.

Something Good - Luca Barbareschi (2013) - Des Voeux Road Central, Hong Kong

After finding out that his Indian competitors are undercutting his dodgy milk product, Matteo assumes that they are the ones responsible for the murder of his business partner and goes to confront the Indian company boss on the streets of Central. The altercation occurs outside the Supreme Court Building.

Something Good - Luca Barbareschi (2013) - Kowloon Star Ferry, Tsim Sha Tsui

After walking around talking about food for a few hours, Matteo catches the ferry back to his hotel. In this case it's from the Kowloon Star Ferry pier in Tsim Sha Tsui. It would make sense if his hotel is on the Island, but so far the only places we have seen him are Kowloon side.

Something Good - Luca Barbareschi (2013) - Happy Valley Racecourse, Hong Kong

Despite being such a major land mark in Hong Kong, this is only one of a very small number of productions to have actually filmed inside the grounds (the others covered so far on this blog have been The Amsterdam Kill and Noble House). Most of the times it has been seen in this blog it has been exterior shots or simply shots with it in the distant background. Anyway, in this film it is where Matteo goes to meet Mr Feng to discuss who may have killed his friends.

Something Good - Luca Barbareschi (2013) - West Kowloon Waterfront, Kowloon

Matteo's friends leave him at the restaurant because he wants to ask some questions about the cleanliness of the kitchen. It turns out that it was a lucky move because his friends end up dead along the West Kowloon waterfront. This is the same place that, the following year, the Transformers would bid farewell to the earthlings following the battle of Hong Kong.

Something Good - Luca Barbareschi (2013) - Aberdeen Seafood Restaurant, Aberdeen

The restaurant that Matteo is taken to by his buddy and their two newly acquired female friends is run by Jiazhen and this is where they first meet. The restaurant is named after her deceased son, Shitao, and is located on the north side of Aberdeen Harbour not far from the Aberdeen-side (as opposed to the Shum Wan-side) floating restaurant pontoons. In reality this is a real location and, according to GoogleEarth, is a seafood place called 亞添海鮮 (Ah Tim Hoi Sin). It looks as though the film crew used both the exterior and interior for the restaurant scenes.

Something Good - Luca Barbareschi (2013) - Peking Road, Tsim Sha Tsui

Although seemingly having a drink at the Grand Hyatt over in Wanchai, when Matteo and his friend leave the bar they exit from the unnamed passageway at the end of Peking Road close to the junction with Canton Road. This is where they meet the girls and head over to the restaurant for dinner.

Something Good - Luca Barbareschi (2013) - Jumbo Floating Restaurant, Aberdeen

Matteo does his pitch in a dining room of unknown identity until he and his audience leave the room afterwards and it is revealed that they are in the Jumbo floating restaurant. This screen grab shows the main internal staircase and its rather elaborate wall frieze. It's a familiar sight for anyone that has visited, even if you never bothered to actually dine.

The current status of the Jumbo is that it closed down last year as a result of the pandemic restrictions and has subsequently been sold to Ocean Park to, somehow, be incorporated into the park attractions in some way. I have no idea what has happened to the Tai Pak and whether or not it was included in the deal. I hope so.

Something Good - Luca Barbareschi (2013) - Grand Hyatt Hotel, Wanchai

Onto another hotel for the next location and this time it's the Grand Hyatt in Wanchai. This isn't surprising given that the production was filming on the nearby attached HKCEC new wing for many scenes. This hotel has appeared a couple of times previously on this blog for the major final scenes of Largo Winch and for a bar scene from Je l'amais.

In this film it is the venue where Matteo meets up with his local business partner for some drinks before heading on to a restaurant with some (apparent) ladies of the night.