The Young Rebel - David Chiang (1975) - Cornwall Street, Kowloon Tong

Our first proper outdoor location is Cornwall Street, and it's a road that crops up multiple times throughout the film, so I have tried to include all its appearances in this one post.

Our first view is along the north side as Gen Lai and Xiao Rong walk along as Rong takes his anger over his father's death out on other people's property. This initial location is next to what is now the Mormon Church at #2 Cornwall Street. For context, Gwulo has a great image of the older property here and you can spot the very same wall seen below. The gateway seen in the third image below is located at the very far left of the Gwulo image and corresponds to #4.

Block A of Baptist Hospital in the background has just been demolished (Dec 2025)

 

The next appearance of Cornwall Street is during a sequence when Xiao Rong attempts his first delivery "up the Peak". The section of the road he is on is the bridge that crosses the old KCR railtrack

Xiao Rong also makes a delivery to "Villa Cornwall", still located at #12 Cornwall Street.

Next we see Xiao Rong trying to bike away from pursuing bike-riding gangsters. This is a similar view (looking east) to one of the first images above showing Baptist Hospital in the background.

The final image below shows Rong fleeing on his motorcycle following his killing of the opposing gangster boss. In the background is Hillsea Court at #10 Cornwall Street (also still around).

The Young Rebel - David Chiang (1975) - Prince Edward Road West, Kowloon

The next film is The Young Rebel, a 1975 Shaw Brothers movie directed by Ti Lung. Judging by the premise of the main character, Xiao Rong (David Chiang), it could be that much of his back story is based on Ti Lung's own personal experience in his earlier, pre-acting life as a grocery delivery boy who has lots of run-ins with local gangsters and learns kung fu to defend himself.

In The Young Rebel, Xiao Rong is a bit obnoxious, a bit like Chiang's character in The Generation Gap, but part of this is due to his father's recent death. Instead of grieving he just bottles it all up and takes his misery out on everyone around him, some more deserving than others. Rong's friend, Gen Lai (Ti Lung) gets him a job as a delivery boy at a grocery store, and then later introduces Rong to his kung fu sifu (played by Yuen Siu-tin) when Rong is beaten up by gangsters.

The film starts at the end, with Gen Lai, now a policeman, having arrested his friend for murder and he is taking him back to the police station in a car. The film then goes back to the events of Rong's father's death and the circumstances that led them up to that point.

This initial scene was filmed inside a car driving along Prince Edward Road West. Note that the second image shows that this was filmed when there was a flyover that ran from east/west at the junction with Waterloo Road. This flyover no longer exists and the current one runs north/south. You may recall other similar-era Shaw films showed the temporary flyover that we are driving over here (see here and here).

St Teresa's Hospital on the left

Ballad of a Small Player - Colin Farrell (2025) - The Venetian, Macau

This is the last post for Ballad of a Small Player (unless I can identify some of the more obscure interiors). It's been a while since I stayed here (10+ years) but I think I recognise some of the interior at the Venetian including the food court where Doyle sits down and gets given a bit of reality by Cynthia Blithe (Tilda Swinton). The last time I was here it still had a Fatburger!

This is the small garden/putting course on the hotel podium

Ballad of a Small Player - Colin Farrell (2025) - Macau Light Rapid Transit Taipa

Doyle returns to Macau with Dao-ming's stash of money and we next see him riding the LRT line back to the casinos. This is another of Macau's recently added features that I have yet to experience (I've only been back once since the end of Covid).

Ballad of a Small Player - Colin Farrell (2025) - Sok Kwu Wan, Lamma Island

Doyle wakes up from his medical episode and is being tended to by Dao-ming on a small floating hut in the middle of Sok Kwu Wan (Picnic Bay is the English name for this place). They then spend the next few days (?) recuperating and bonding until Dao-ming mysteriously disappears again. Doyle then finds her huge stash of cash hidden in bags sunk in the water beneath the hut.

Ballad of a Small Player - Colin Farrell (2025) - Grand Hyatt Hotel, Wanchai

Doyle gets his money, but is then left with a huge restaurant bill. Some how he makes it to Hong Kong and heads to the Grand Hyatt in Wanchai. He then stuffs his face silly and tries his best to delay having to pay his bill until he has a medical episode.

Ballad of a Small Player - Colin Farrell (2025) - Residence of the Portuguese Consul, Macau

Most of my regular readers will know this place by its former identity: the Bela Vista Hotel. However, since the Handover in 1999 the building has been repurposed as the residence of the Portuguese Consul General. They must have pulled some strings to use it for the production and the Consul does get an acknowledgement in the credits. Doyle heads here when Dao-ming disappears and tries to get his friend to repay a debt he owes him so he can run away to Hong Kong.

Ballad of a Small Player - Colin Farrell (2025) - Pak Nai, Tuen Mun

Following the fire festivities at the temple, the pair head to a nearby beach and sit on a wooden bench in the middle of what looks like mud flats. When Doyle wakes up in the morning, Dao-ming has disappeared and written a number code on his hand.  This scene was in fact filmed back in Hong Kong. This is the view from the low-tide mud flats in front of Pak Nai looking towards the Shekou peninsula in Shenzhen. It's not far from the so-called "Pak Nai Sky Mirror" near Ap Tsai Hang.

Ballad of a Small Player - Colin Farrell (2025) - Temple de Tin Hau, Coloane

The large temple that Doyle and Dao-ming go to that evening is the Tin Hau temple in the middle of Coloane.

Ballad of a Small Player - Colin Farrell (2025) - Edifício San Mei On, Rua Três do Bairro da Areia Preta

Out of all the locations in this film, this has probably caused me the most pain to find and it was nice to finally pin it down. Dao-ming lives in an old style tenement with a central courtyard. The taxi drops the pair off on Rua Três do Bairro da Areia Preta and the pair enter the northernmost block of the "San Mei On" buildings. I have no idea how long these places will be around because the images on the internet make them look quite dilapidated. If I make it to Macau this year I will definitley include it on my visit list.