Doctor Strange - Benedict Cumberbatch (2016) - Brief Glimpse of Hong Kong

Another film to add to my "Brief Glimpse" list is Doctor Strange because although we do have what looks to be an authentic (i.e. not CGI) view of Hong Kong as an establishing shot, the remainder of the Hong Kong-set action piece was filmed on a rather well-made facsimile at Longcross Studios just outside of London. I was quite impressed by the recreation, the business signs were very convincing and from certain angles it is very difficult to know that it is a set. I should know because I've been living in Sham Shui Po District in Kowloon since 2012. There's a brief introduction to the set uploaded to Youtube here.

The basis for the "Sanctum" in the film is a well-known pre-war (built 1931) corner shophouse, Lui Seng Chun (雷生春), located on the corner of Tong Mi Road and Lai Chi Kok Road in Mongkok. It stood for many years falling into disrepair until it was renovated and cleaned up by the Govt and then turned into a placebo TCM clinic by the HKBU. The building was gazetted as a historical monument (giving it full protection* from redevelopment) in 2022.

Lui Seng Chun in 2019

*No one has yet decided to test the limits of Monument "protection", but I predict that if anyone did "accidentally" destroy one of the buildings on the protection list, given they way things work in HK now, I imagine a small fine and a slap on the wrist is pretty much all that will happen.