Les Fruits de la Passion - Klaus Kinski (1981) - Tin Hau Temple, Repulse Bay

The final location from this film (other than an old mansion which may take a long time to locate) is the Tin Hau Temple down in Repulse Bay. It's cropped up quite a few times on this blog previously.

Les Fruits de la Passion - Klaus Kinski (1981) - Jumbo Restaurant, Aberdeen Harbour

Despite appearing to be set in a rather earlier version of Shanghai - I'm not sure what specific decade we are talking about - there is no problem with including a modern anachronism in the form of the Jumbo Restaurant.

Les Fruits de la Passion - Klaus Kinski (1981) - Cheung Chau, Outlying Islands

In case you doubt my willingness to try and make this blog as complete a record of HK film locations as possible, I present to you Les Fruits de la Passion. It's a French/Japanese co production starring Klaus Kinski as some rich dude who makes his mistress join a brothel in order to show her devotion to him. Probably one of the worst films I've ever watched for this blog (and don't forget I covered T.N.T Jackson a few weeks back).

Anyway, the first few scenes show various people arriving by boat on a small waterfront somewhere. I initially figured it to be Sai Kung - a place that has been on quite a few films here already - but on closer examination realised it was in fact Cheung Chau.

The scene also ends with a brief glimpse of a temple front. It's the Pak Tai temple on Cheung Chau - quite recognisable despite the poor film quality. It looks like that stone incense urn is still there.

Spearhead in Hong Kong - Stafford Gordon (1981) - Kai Tak Airport, Kowloon

All good things come to an end and Spearhead finishes with the battalion heading home to RAF Brize Norton from Kai Tak.

Spearhead in Hong Kong - Stafford Gordon (1981) - Stanley Fort, Stanley

The final episode of Spearhead (called Futures) doesn't really have much in the way of new locations other than a farewell to Stanley Fort included below for posterity. The first two shots showing areas we've seen before but I did notice that the church tower was visible in the first one (there's a nice shot of it here on FLICKR) and in the second picture you can see the edge of Block 10 which was in the previous post. I'm not too sure whereabouts the last image was taken, the building is obviously much newer (relatively speaking) but perhaps some knowledgeable peeps out there can let me know.

Spearhead in Hong Kong - Stafford Gordon (1981) - Stanley Fort, Stanley

Back to Stanley Fort once again for episode 5, Loyalties, but this time with some views from around the north side of the football field and what I believe is Block 10. I have no idea whether or not this block once had a different name like many of the others (which recall various places and buildings in the UK), but in this show it is where Sgt. Bilinski is billeted and from where he leaves the barracks after being sent back to the UK following his close call with the snakeheads. Perhaps there is someone out there who can comment as to why the entrance was painted blue.

Spearhead in Hong Kong - Stafford Gordon (1981) - Beas River, Sheung Shui

Four years before Jackie Chan and Danny Aiello visited the Beas River Country Club to confront Roy Chiao's bad guy, Martin Jacobs (playing Lieutenant Pickering) heads there for some fatherly advice from a retired Brigadier. Once again the famous - former Jardines Stables - gate is the instantly recognisable landmark that tells us we are way out in the Kwu Tung area of the New Territories, not too far from Sheung Shui.

Spearhead in Hong Kong - Stafford Gordon (1981) - Man Kam To, Sheung Shui

The drama moves back to Man Kam To for some of episode 5: Loyalties. This time we get a closer look at the long single-storey building that can be seen in the lower image of this previous post.

As far as I can tell the building is still standing and looks to be part of the Police Post further up the hill. In the show it is a billet for the soldiers carying out the border patrols.

Spearhead in Hong Kong - Stafford Gordon (1981) - Pak Nai, Yuen Long

In the second of only two locations from the fourth episode, The Macau Connection, (the first location being Lau Fau Shan) Sgt. Bilinski is kidnapped by the snakeheads because he won't overlook his soldierly duties and a big search is undertaken by the army and local police force. He turns up later in the episode unconscious and on a beach somewhere. Actually, the beach location is not that far away - it's just down the coast in Pak Nai - still within the boundaries of Yuen Long District though, despite its proximity to Tuen Mun.

Spearhead in Hong Kong - Stafford Gordon (1981) - Lau Fau Shan, Yuen Long

For the fourth episode - The Macau Connection - the soldiers are on II patrol in the far north west of the territory in Lau Fau Shan. Sgt Bilinski has been compromised in Macau by the snakeheads and use this as an opportunity the distract the team and get a whole boat load of illegal immigrants through the cordon.

I neglected to take a screen shot but one of the first sequences of the show is film of soldiers' boots stomping through the beach littered with the oyster shells that made this location so famous. But you can make some out on the beach in the first image below.

Spearhead in Hong Kong - Stafford Gordon (1981) - Magazine Gap Road, Mid-levels

To show his visiting father some sights during his visit, Private Adams takes him and the wife up to a viewing point to admire the harbour vista. Just looking at the buildings in the background I can tell this is a layby along Magazine Gap Road just in front of Magazine Heights at #17 Magazine Gap Road. Even by 1981 standards these buildings weren't new and it's nice to know that they are still around despite now being 50+ years old.

The first image shows the view looking up at Magazine Heights from the road and the following image shows the cobbled retaining wall next to the road that forms part of the podium base. I think the view was filmed from somewhere else (slightly more to the west) though as the angle with Hung Hom and the airport/Hung Hom doesn't quite match. It's interesting to see the big gap in the area that was later filled up by reclamation and the Whampoa gardens development.

Magazine Heights behind

View from Mid-levels looking towards the airport and Hung Hom area

This last photo shows the view looking back down Magazine Gap Road. The development behind is Magazine Gap Towers with it's rather impressive balcony size.

Spearhead in Hong Kong - Stafford Gordon (1981) - St Paul's Facade, Macau

After Sgt Bilinksi awakes from his drugged night in Macau, he does a quick runner back to HK via the St Paul's ruin. It's not the end of his troubles though.

Spearhead in Hong Kong - Stafford Gordon (1981) - Casino Macau Palace, Macau

Sgt Bilinski's choice of casino was a bit more limited back in 1981. So, no surprise then that he chose the Casino Macau Palace - the wooden floating casino once moored in the Inner Harbour area. This was the go-to casino for most of the foreign film and TV productions that I have covered on this blog, so rather than repeat myself you can check out these older posts.