The Last Time I Saw Macao - João Rui Guerra da Mata (2012) - Avenida da Praia Grande, Macau

Da Mata reminisces about when the stone wall that still runs along the Avenida da Praia Grande marked the edge of the waterfront. Reclamation has put paid to that as expected, but rather than reclaim all the land infront, Macau also created a couple of landlocked lakes called Sai Van and Nam Van.

The Last Time I Saw Macao - João Rui Guerra da Mata (2012) - Casa de Cha Long Wa, Macau

The Casa de Cha Long Wa, or Lung Wah Tea House in English (龍華茶樓 - lung wa cha lau in Cantonese) features in a scene where the camera focuses on the cashier counting up the till receipts using an abacus. I've never been but the restaurant appears to be one of those old-style tea houses that are hard to find in Hong Kong these days but appear to still operate unmolested in Macau. Most of Hong Kong's similar eateries (such as this one, or this one) have long since disappeared thanks to redevelopment.

This one in Macau occupies an old building on the corner of Avenida do Almirante Lacerda and Rua Norte Do Mercado Almirante Lacerda, right next door to the famous Red Market building.

The Last Time I Saw Macao - João Rui Guerra da Mata (2012) - Colégio de Santa Rosa de Lima, Macau

Da Mata's old school also appears in the film. According to the narration, he attended this but is old classroom is now full of junk (see second image). I believe these days it operates as a girls' school but have no idea if it always operated as one, so I can't vouch for the realism in the narrative. The entrance to the school is on Rua de Santa Clara, not far from where this was filmed.

The Last Time I Saw Macao - João Rui Guerra da Mata (2012) - Beco da Alegria, Macau

The last of the alleys as we are given a brief glimpse of Beco da Alegria, also not far from the last two locations around the west and north side of the Jardim de Luís de Camões.

The Last Time I Saw Macao - João Rui Guerra da Mata (2012) - Beco da Lage, Macau

 Another view closeby to the last post is this one of Beco da Lage. The shot starts on what looks like an old abandoned house at the top of the slope before settling on the steps up to it that form the "Beco" (i.e. alleyway).

The Last Time I Saw Macao - João Rui Guerra da Mata (2012) - Calçada das Sortes, Macau

Mamiko Oka identifies this location ( image ) as Beco da Trave, but actually it's Calçada das Sortes. It runs parallel to Beco da Trave and the two are extremely close, hence the confusion I suspect. Anyway, it's just another of those incidental shots that have been inserted to connect parts of the story.

The Last Time I Saw Macao - João Rui Guerra da Mata (2012) - Ponte No.30, Macau

In one scene there is a brief sequence as several workman sit down to eat noodles inside Ponte No.30. The pier structure that the chaps are sitting in was built in 1948 and one of the few that have yet to be redeveloped (sadly, No.27 that was used for Ferry to Hong Kong, and #28 next door, have already been replaced by a larger modern structure). I believe most of the waterfront pier structures were owned and operated by single companies, in this case the pier's Chinese name is Hip Lee Pier (協利碼頭), so I suspect there is a historical company in Macau with the same name. If I get a bit of time I will try and dig out some more information on them and update the post.

The Last Time I Saw Macao - João Rui Guerra da Mata (2012) - Sam Po Temple, Taipa

Another brief shot - this film is full of them, and as a result the number of posts for it will probably be quite high - but included for completeness.

I have been remiss and forgot to mention that most of the more obscure locations for this film have been courtesy of Mamiko Oka on FLICKR, who has been a great help in taking much of the hassle out of finding the locations. So a big shout out to them. Please visit their FLICKR page for this film.

Anyway, this ornate wall decoration (actually, very common in temples in Hong Kong as well) belongs to the Sam Po Temple on Taipa. The temple is located directly opposite the Fabrica de Panchoes Iec Long.

The Last Time I Saw Macao - João Rui Guerra da Mata (2012) - Jardim de Luís de Camões, Macau

We've been here before, many years ago, when it was a stand-in for the Huang Pu Park in Shanghai. Nothing quite so spectacular this time though as we just get a few shots inside the park of old people exercising and taking their caged birds for some fresh air.

The Last Time I Saw Macao - João Rui Guerra da Mata (2012) - Jardim Lou Lim Ieoc, Macau

There are a couple of quick scenes shot inside the Lou Lim Ieoc (or Ioc, the "I" is pronounced like a "Y") garden. The first is a brief shot of some local amateur musicians sitting in a wooden pagoda inside the garden grounds. Later on, at the end of the film, there is a close up of a goldfish pond also located at the garden. Although the only clue to the location in the latter is a reflection of a cermaic mosaic on the wall above the pond - which  I coincidentally took a photo of several years ago (see bottom image).

The Last Time I Saw Macao - João Rui Guerra da Mata (2012) - A-Ma Temple, Macau

Although the temple features significantly towards the end of the film as some of the (what appears to be) Lunar New Year celebrations at the temple and a firework display launched from the plaza that fronts the temple, it's first appearance is earlier on as some old woman puts something on the concrete balustrade that leads up to the main entrance.

The Last Time I Saw Macao - João Rui Guerra da Mata (2012) - Avenida de Almeida Ribeiro, Macau

We get a couple of views of Avenida de Almeida Ribeiro during this earlier part of the film. There is a nice high view from da Mata's hotel room at the Central and one taken more or less where the first image is looking down onto, with the art deco Teatro Apollo on right side of the frame and its large Coke advert.

The Last Time I Saw Macao - João Rui Guerra da Mata (2012) - The Venetian Mall, Macau

This film is filled with lots of shots of many seemingly random locations as an accompaniment to the narration. One of these is a brief shot inside the mall located in the lower levels of the Venetian Casino Hotel Resort. In case you haven't been there, there's a huge shopping mall at ground level adorned with fake sky, fake building facades and a fake Venetian waterway replete with its own gondolas and singing boatmen. It's probably one of the most hideous places in Macau (and these days it has a lot of competition).

The Last Time I Saw Macao - João Rui Guerra da Mata (2012) - Casino Lisboa, Macau

Da Mata considers his options in getting to the rendezvous as he passes a bunch of pedicabs, but then remarks that they are just here for tourists now and no one actually rides in them anymore. The pedicab stand is located right outside the entrance to Casino Lisboa. The entrance also pops up later in a night scene in all its colourful glory.

The Last Time I Saw Macao - João Rui Guerra da Mata (2012) - Rua de Cantão, Macau

Da Mata is asked by Cindy to meet her friend, A-Kan, outside a sex shop on one of the small lanes leading off Rua de Cantão. However, he gets lost and misses the rendezvous. This is the same street that Johnny Hallyday walked down a few years earlier in Vengeance. The Hotel Fortuna, also located here, is seen in a later sequence as Da Mata continues his fruitless search for Cindy.

The Last Time I Saw Macao - João Rui Guerra da Mata (2012) - Hotel Central, Macau

When da Mata arrives in Macau, his troubled friend, Cindy, has booked him a room at the Hotel Central next to Largo do Senado. If you are wondering how old the hotel is, you can see it in the back of this location footage, shot by Dick Davol for the Robert Mitchum Macao film in the early 50s. Actually, the hotel was originally built in the 1920s, but only had 6 floors at the time. An additional 5 floors were added in the 1940s Coincidentally (or not) there are a couple of references to that film (Macao) in this one.

The Last Time I Saw Macao - João Rui Guerra da Mata (2012) - Largo do Senado, Macau

As the narration discusses the political events surrounding the handover, we are treated to some shots taken around Largo do Senado during what appears to be Christmas time. Either that or the kid has no idea what she's wearing. The location in the film is at the interior part of the area, in front of St Dominic's Church.

The Last Time I Saw Macao - João Rui Guerra da Mata (2012) - Friendship Statue, Largo da Companhia de Jesus, Macau

As the narrator discusses the handover of Macau to China, the camera focuses on the "Friendship Statue" located on Largo da Companhia de Jesus at the foot of the steps leading up to the St Paul's facade. There's nothing particulary outstanding about the statue/sculpture, it's just a girl and a boy exchanging a lotus flower. I think the symbolism speaks for itself.

The Last Time I Saw Macao - João Rui Guerra da Mata (2012) - Po Sang Pawnshop, Canton

Yeah, I know, I normally leave the locations alone if they venture outside of Hong Kong and Macau (although I did do a few in Taiwan some years back, if you remember) but I figured I would include this one for completeness because it's not clear in the film that we have actually left Macau and I wanted to make sure no one turned up there hoping to find this one. Although, fat chance of anyone getting into Macau (or HK for that matter) anytime soon thanks to COVID.

This is the location of the second murder as the main antagonist - recognisable only by his booted feet and gloved hands (because, remember, we don't get to see anyone from the waist up) - kills someone in the storage tower of one of Canton's more famous pawnshops 寶生大押 ("bou sang dai at"). For those interested, it's located, more or less, at the junction of ZhongShanQi Road and RenMin North Road in Li Wan District. See the location pin at the bottom of the post for an more accurate marker (assuming the different GPS systems between China vs rest of world hasn't messed it up).

Not Macau!

The Last Time I Saw Macao - João Rui Guerra da Mata (2012) - Outer Harbour Area, Macau

As da Matta makes his way from Hong Kong to Macau, we are given the background to his journey via voiceover as his ferry passes by a few recognisable landmarks on its approach to the ferry terminal. First up is the conical shape of the Macau Science Centre. Next along is the Rocks Hotel before we get to the jumble of buildings that occupy this part of the peninsula. Interesting for me is the fact that the old volcano and Chinese temple/fort that stood at the north end of Fisherman's wharf were still there in 2012. I had assumed these had been torn down much earlier. The Hotel Legend Palace now stands on that location. We've seen the volcano before on the blog in a brief sequence from Invisible Waves whereas the hotel that replaced it was one of the locations seen in the 2018 UK TV show, Strangers (aka White Dragon). The Science Centre was seen in Now You See Me 2.

The Last Time I Saw Macao - João Rui Guerra da Mata (2012) - Fabrica de Panchoes Iec Long, Taipa

The next film on my list is a Portuguese arthouse film made by João Pedro Rodrigues and João Rui Guerra da Mata in 2012. A Última Vez Que Vi Macau (Eng: The Last Time I Saw Macao) centres on an unseen protagonist whi is retruning to his childhood home (Macau) from Portugal to help out a friend who is in trouble with some shady characters. The majority of the film uses footage that is really more documentary-like in the way it has been filmed, with a plot narration by the central character (called Guerra da Mata - hence why I have put that director's name in the main title of the post, I assume it was him providing the narration and physical presence) as he negotiates his way around his old, but now unfamiliar, childhood home in search of his friend. The protagonists and antagonists are only ever seen from the waist down, if at all, and much of the plot moves forward through the narration and an overlaid soundtrack of other characters. I suspect, although can't confirm, that some of the onscreen characters that do appear, had no idea they were being filmed but were incorporated into the plot via the overlaid dialogue/soundtrack.

The film begins in the middle of a wargame as a bunch of kids are running around a derelict site shooting BB pellets at each other, only for one of them to be killed by a real gun. This is the incident that sparks da Matas friend, Candy, to send him an email asking him to come to Macau.

The wargame scene was shot inside the walls of the Fabrica de Panchoes Iec Long in Taipa. In some shots you can see the old concrete protectve walls that stood between the various buildings (I assume they were there to limit to damage of any explosions that may occur during the firecracker production process. You can see some of the buildings featured in the screencaps below on João Botas' excellent Macau Antigo blog.

Painted Faces - Sammo Hung (1988) - Avenida de Almeida Ribeiro, Macau

The last post for Painted Faces (short but sweet) as the troupe head back to the school and blag their way onto a bus by pretending to be the (multiple) sons of one of the company's bus conductors. One of the roads featured on their trip home (before they are caught and make their escape) was filmed in Macau and was shot along the well-used Avenida de Almeida Ribeiro. This is the go-to road in Macau for production companies wanting a more historical Hong Kong (or Shanghai) feel. I think the opening of the scene starts on the waterfront (due to the presence of some distinctive arched verandahs that were common there) however, I've left that location out because I couldn't confirm 100%.

The screen cap below is looking west along the road from the waterfront junction, but Andi has also included a screencap from a few seconds later as the bus passes the Lee Kum Kee building.

It wouldn't surprise me if the whole bus ride sequence was shot in Macau in its entirety because the logistics of ferrying a full size double-decker bus between HK and Macau might've proved difficult.

Painted Faces - Sammo Hung (1988) - Sacred Heart Church, Sai Kung

After the boys have picked up the rice from the jetty and stopped off to buy toys, they walk back into town past the a rather strikingly coloured church before being set upon by a bunch of local school boys, including their neighbour's son, and a fight breaks out.

This scene was actually shot in Sai Kung in front of the Sacred Heart Church. There is a real school right next door called the Sung Tsun Catholic School and it can be seen in the background of the scene.