Four Assassins - Will Yun Lee (2011) - Shamrock Hotel, Nathan Road

Despite an illustrious history and career in local 50s and 60s Cantonese movies (so I've been told), this is the first time I've seen the Shamrock Hotel on a modern foreign production. Opened in 1952, the Shamrock Hotel was once the tallest building in Kowloon which is quite hard to imagine given by how relatively small it is these days. There was a demolition scare a few years ago when the owner put it up for sale, but it seems that either the owner had a change of heart, or the new owner has, and has turned it into what I believe might be serviced apartments. Its name has been changed to Synloc Tower.

In the film this is, supposedly, the main setting for much of the story as the hotel where the four killers meet up, and as such we are given several establishing shots of the hotel disguised as the "Shum Shui Hotel".

Despite being set in the "Shum Shui Hotel", the interiors were shot in a specially constructed set in one of the buildings in the old Perowne Camp in Tuen Mun. Don't take my word for it, you can see some of the production photos over at the film's old website (https://www.fourassassins-movie.com/the-location-2/). I don't recognise the main building in the top photo but I suspect all of the interiors were shot in one or more of the old buildings at the former camp. Once occupied by Ghurkas, part of the camp has been redeveloped into a residential condominim complex called "The Royale"- although I believe the old temple has been preserved - the rest of the camp is currently used by the Crossroads Foundation.

Four Assassins - Will Yun Lee (2011) - Kansu Street, Yau Ma Tei

At the north end of Woosung Street was Tak Hing restaurant (德興海味). The neon signage in the image below though was located along Kansu Street-side of the building where the restaurant was located. I'm not sure when the restaurant closed but the signage most likely came down when the building was externally renovated in 2019.

Four Assassins - Will Yun Lee (2011) - Arran Street, Mongkok

Here is some more neon that has sadly been removed. It is the large sign for the Four Seasons Hotpot restaurant (春夏秋冬火鍋) that used to be located at 2-4 Arran Street in Mongkok.

Four Assassins - Will Yun Lee (2011) - Temple Street, Yau Ma Tei

A rather generic view of one of Hong Kong's night time street markets, but the presence of Asian Curry Chicken (亞星咖喱) at the bottom right tells me this is Temple Street just south of Kansu Street.

Four Assassins - Will Yun Lee (2011) - Tung Choi Street, Mongkok

Here's a view that should be familiar to anyone who has spent anytime reading the older posts of this blog. This is the usual collection of red minibuses that (illegally, but strangely never ticketed) gather on Tung Choi Street in Mongkok and this view is, specifically, from the pedestrian walkways above Mongkok Road. The neon sign below (for a karaoke club) also used to be located on the first floor of the building right next to the walkway - which explains why the camera could get such a close-up - but has since been removed.

Four Assassins - Will Yun Lee (2011) - Woosung Street, Yau Ma Tei

Another shot from the opening montage which shows a view looking south down Woosung Street between Saigon Street and Ning Po Street. None of this signage exists anymore - it's been removed in the slow stripping away of Kowloon's soul. Welcome to the new Hong Kong.

Four Assassins - Will Yun Lee (2011) - Victoria Harbour

Next up is a 2011 film, Four Assassins, starring Will Yun Lee and Miguel Ferrer. It's about a group of contract killer friends with a bunch of personal baggage who meet up following Marcus' (Will Yun Lee) recent, seemingly unsuccessful, fulfilment of a contract for which he still expects payment.

It was shot completely in Hong Kong, although the way the film is put together - pretty much a single location film that would work as a stage play - I don't know why. Most of the different locations are all part of the initial montage of establishing shots including this rather colourful one of the harbour viewed from Kowloon-side.

In the bottom image you can see where SOGO used to be located under the atrium next to the Intercontinental (now The Regent) Hotel.

Amaya - Kaori Momoi (2010) - Tai O, Lantau

Tai O is used a few times in the movie. Initially to portray the rural village (in Mainland China?) where Amaya's son rents a house and works as a fisherman, but later it's also used as the departure point for Paul as he heads away for further travels.

Amaya - Kaori Momoi (2010) - Java Road Municipal Services Building, North Point

I'm not sure why, but there's a brief, random glimpse of some footage of the interior of the Java Road Municpal Services Building and its famous Tung Po (東寶小館) eatery. This place became quite famous for serving beer in small rice bowls and garnered quite the reputation for an entertaining night out until the local Govt departments decided they were having too much fun and terminated their lease here. It's a very good illustration of current Govt bureacracy in operation. Yes, you are allowed to have fun but only on our terms, sort of thing. Anyway, for those who still wish to visit, Tung Po has moved to a new venue on Jaffe Road.

Amaya - Kaori Momoi (2010) - Ngong Ping 360, Tung Chung

Paul heads to the cable car with his not-so-newfound friend.

Les Tribulations d'un Chinois en Chine - Jean-Paul Belmondo (1965) - Kau U Fong, Central

I just mentioned my neglect of Kau U Fong in my last post, so instead of forgetting about it again, here is the related post that was supposed to be published a couple of years ago when I took advantage of the pandemic to relook at several older movies.

In the movie the street appears in some sequences set in and around Aberdeen and is the location of the club where Alexandrine (Ursula Andress) works. However, the same area was also used for the latter part of the scaffolding chase seen later in the film. In the lower 2 images below, you can see the old faded yellow building with the painted Chinese characters that used to occupy the corner where Kau U Fong meets On Wo Lane.

Amaya - Kaori Momoi (2010) - Kau U Fong, Central

I was just about to post a link back to an old post featuring Kau U Fong and have realised that I never posted it in the first place, so I've added it to my to-do list. In the meantime, this is the small street where Amaya rides her squeaky bicycle to pick up food on her way home from work.

Amaya - Kaori Momoi (2010) - Stewart Road, Wanchai

Paul meets up with a couple of fellow tourists at the Pacific Coffee on Stewart Road. I used to frequent this very same coffee shop around the same time this was being filmed, but sadly never saw it happen. The old art deco shophouse on the opposite side of the road also makes a brief appearance. It's had a bit of a face lift since this movie though.

Amaya - Kaori Momoi (2010) - Various views around Central

Quite a few of the opening scenes were shot in and around Statue Square in Central. But there are also afew shots along Des Vouex Road Central, such as the reflection of Alexandra House in the windows of Chater House (image 3) and a view looking west towards the Yat Fat Stationers sign (image 5). The latter is still there as far as I know, despite all the recent sign removals carried out by the Govt.

Amaya - Kaori Momoi (2010) - View from Ocean Terminal

The opening scenes show a variety of shots in and around the harbour, including this view of Paul looking towards Hong Kong Island from Kowloon side. You can see by the location of the Star Ferry terminal that it was shot from the car park on top of Ocean Terminal.

Amaya - Kaori Momoi (2010) - Harbour Grand Hotel, North Point

Just when I thought I was running out of titles again, another 10-15 or so get picked up by my radar and I have recentlymanaged to track down a couple of them. So next up is Amaya which was released worldwide under the title Hong Kong Confidential. However, I have alread covered an old movie with Gene Barry of that same name, so will stick with Amaya. The story follows several characters whose lives cross at a massage centre in Hong Kong. The film starts with Paul (Andrius Mamontovas), a Lithuanian traveller, arriving in Hong Kong to study a massage course. He's a bit of a scruffy backpacker but has money to throw around and stay at the Harbour Grand Hotel in North Point (not the Kowloon-side one).

João Maria Ferreira do Amaral Statue, Lisbon

Not a film location per se but I was just in Lisbon, Portugal and took the chance to visit a remnant from Macau that has popped up in a few films over the years. The remnant is the statue of João Maria Ferreira do Amaral, the Macau Governor between 1846 and 1849. His tenure ended by his assassination by a group of Chinese following do Amaral's rather confrontational stance against the Chinese in and around Macau. You can read more about him over at wiki, but suffice to say his historical legacy is one of the reasons why this statue is now in Lisbon and not in Macau. The statue was initially installed on Praça de Ferreira do Amaral in June 1940. It depicts the one armed do Amaral swinging a sword (looks more like a stick to be honest) down at unseen aggressors. 

The statue used to sit atop a large stone column in the centre of Praça de Ferreira do Amaral and it was in this location where we can see it in several movies featured on the blog including Narazumono.

There's a brief glimpse in Asia-Pol Secret Service as well.

And there is another brief scene in Challenge of the Tiger.

So what happened? Well, do Amaral was such a hated figure to the Chinese (understadable) that the CCP demanded the statue's removal from Macau prior to the handover in 1999. The Portuguese authorities acquiesced in November 1991 and the monument was dismantled. The statue was shipped back to Lisbon (does anyone know what happened to the plinth?) and now sits in a park - Jardim da Alameda da Encarnação - attached to a suburban housing estate right next to Lisbon airport (you can walk there, as I did, from Terminal 1 in about 10 minutes - what can I say, I was flying Easyjet and my return flight was delayed for 2 hours).

The statue may have gone but the area in Macau where it once stood - Praça de Ferreira do Amaral - still bares his name.