Awarapan - Emraan Hashmi (2007) - Hong Kong Park, Central

The musical number moves to Hong Kong Park as Reema is obviously in a happy mood because she is with all her good buddies. Shivam watches them from a discrete distance. Unfortunately I don't speak Hindi, so I can't say what the song is about (feel free to comment below if you do).

Crossing Hennessy - Jacky Cheung (2010) - Flagstaff House, Hong Kong Park

Post ceremony photos at Flagstaff House.Formerly the living quarters of the British Garrison head honcho,and now a museum dedicated to the item behind the colonisation of Hong Kong all those years ago: tea. It's appeared on the blog a few times over the years. I think that's our lot for this particular film, there are a couple of locations I couldn't identify (such as the graevyard) but you never know, they might reveal themselves to me in the future. Until then.

Crossing Hennessy - Jacky Cheung (2010) - Cotton Tree Drive Marriage Registry

Loy's mum and her accountant, Uncle Ching (Danny Lee), are finally married at the Cotton Tree Drive Marriage Registry in Hong Kong Park. Old readers will remember this place, Rawlinson House, has previously appeared on the blog as one of the hideouts of a few of the "million eyes of Sumuru". You can see the post I did about it back in 2016, here, as well as the subsequent modern day comparison.

Royal Warriors - Michelle Yeoh (1986) - Flagstaff House, Hong Kong Park

In reality this was where the Hong Kong Garrison Commander lived, later to be turned into the Museum of Tea Ware. Well worth a visit if you are ever here. In the film it's the Japanese Consulate where Yamamoto has been put under house arrest with his families ashes/bones following the rather OTT shootout at the California bar.

Between the Devil and the Deep Blue Sea - Stephen Rea (1995) - Tai Chi Garden, Hong Kong Park

Nikos finally catches up with Li at the "Tai Chi Garden". It's a terrace with a variety of white pavilions held up by large white columns. These days though it also has the SARS memorial - dedicated to some of the front line workers that were exposed to, and died from, SARS during the outbreak in 2003.

Between the Devil and the Deep Blue Sea - Stephen Rea (1995) - Hong Kong Park Children's Playground, Central

If you have ever had young kids in Hong Kong then the chances are you will have taken them to the huge playground in Hong Kong park at some point. This place was cool (it probably still is, I haven't been for a while now that most of my kids are now officially adults!) because it had some toy diggers in the sandpit with articulated arms as well as a bunch of swings, slides and a very cool tunnel slide etc.

This is where Nikos leaves Li as he heads off to the shipping offices to try and get a spot on another ship. He returns later to find she has disappeared.

Shadow of China - John Lone (1989) - Flagstaff House, Hong Kong Park

We've seen this place a couple of times on this blog now, first was as the residence of Emmanuelle and her husband in Emmanuelle 2, then not so long ago Vivian Wu was doing a photo shoot here for The Pillow Book. Well, it turns out that The Pillow Book wasn't the first time Vivian had made a film here because she turns up with Akira to witness her old refugee buddy throwing a large garden party in the groundsof the rather splendid old house.

The Million Eyes of Sumuru - George Nader (1967) - Rawlinson House Now and Then

As promised, I made the trip over to Hong Kong Park today to grab some modern comparisons of the scenes we can see in The Million Eyes of Sumuru. It's hard to believe that 1967 is almost 50 years ago and yet some places in Hong Kong haven't really changed that much at all.

Anyway, below are my best efforts at comparison (I was doing it from memory rather). Picture one shows the view from near the entrance by Cotton Tree Drive. Obviously the tree growth obscures our more open view but the angle is more or less spot on.

Picture two shows the view from the top of the small road next to the entrance to Rawlinson House. Okay, so I was a bit further up the slope than intended but I think in the film grab the guys are only a little bit further down from where the kiosk is. I think, but this is obviously just a guess, that the kiosk is around where the right hand side gatepost was.

If you look closely at the picture below of the old garage, you might just be able to make out the steps that are behind it. I am hoping this is the same set of steps that are still in this part of the park. I would find it strange if steps had been removed and replaced so I am going to bet that the current steps up the hill are the same ones we see behind the garage. What do you think?

The picture below shows the building's front entrance (at least I assume this side was the front entrance and not the opposite end that looks onto Cotton Tree Drive). This is now the main entrance for the Marriage Registry that now occupies Rawlinson House. In the film, Frankie Avalon hides behind the central pillar when one of Sumuru's followers comes out to investigate what triggered the alarm.

And finally, once Avalon has entered the building, he stops by the window with the mismatched balustrades. Guess what, it's still there and I tracked it down to a window about halfway down the side of the building. It's not possible to see from the film because there's a tree in the way, but the balustrade on the far left of the window is in fact one of the original ones as you can see from my picture. How am I sure this is the same window? Well, none of the others had the same configuration of balustrades, so assuming nothing has changed since the filming then this appears to be the one.

Anyway, it was an interesting wander around the park today and it's nice to see this kind of stuff after 50 years. If anyone was stationed at the barracks back in the 60's it would be great to hear from anyone with any memories of the place and particularly if they recall the filming taking place.

The Million Eyes of Sumuru - George Nader (1967) - Rawlinson House, Hong Kong Park

The bad guys have a hideout and it turns out that it was Rawlinson House in what is now Hong Kong Park. Back then it was in the middle of Victoria Barracks and was painted white, these days it's been given a sort of orange makeover and been turned into the Marriage Registry. Thankfully one of the buildings that was kept and restored whilst 90% of the other buildings in the barracks area were demolished.

In the first shot we see the heroes arriving in a car and a building can be seen up on the hill, I can't quite make out if this is Rawlinson House that we initially see but it certainly occupies a small hill in the park and this would mean the car is going in via what is now the entrance from Cotton Tree Drive. Of course, it could be this one was one of the other buildings in the park that has since gone, so I will keep my mind open at this point.

The next shots shows Nader and Avalon walking up the road to the building entrance where there is a garage. You can still walk up this road although the garage that formed part of the building has since been demolished.

And in case you were still having doubts about where we are, we then get a glimpse of the front of the property. Feel free to compare it with this shot from the AMO. I do have shots of this area but unfortunately they were taken during a friend's wedding so they may not appreciate being splashed all over the internet, so I will go back and take some comparison shots if I get a chance this week.

For a bit of further confirmation, I think I may try and seek out the window space from the next shot, notice that the balustrades next to Frankie Avalon are of mixed design. The balustrades on the right hand side are the design that seem to feature throughout the building, but it looks as though at least 4 were replaced at some point. It would be nice to see if this little feature can still be discerned on the building. Watch this space. 

The Pillow Book - Vivian Wu (1996) - Hong Kong Park, Central

Sometimes I have to go beyond the call of duty for this blog and view films that are a bit, well...pants! Case in point: The Pillow Book directed by Peter Greenaway. Thankfully it has some interesting bits of Hong Kong - some we've seen before, some we haven't.

Sadly, for this blog at least, Greenaway's habit of sticking insets in the middle of the screen mean some of the locations are obscured, but I think there is enough available for a quick look. Anyway, for starters we get some shots taken from within the bounds of Hong Kong Park.

 We also catch a brief glimpse of Flagstaff House a bit later on. The lights behind it are from the Lippo Centre.

Emmanuelle 2 - Sylvia Kristel (1975) - Flagstaff House, Central

Here's one that hasn't been used before, and the fact that it was in what was, at the time, still part of the Victoria Barracks in Central (since turned largely into Hong Kong Park). Flagstaff House is now the Museum of Tea Ware and well worth a visit, even if you aren't too interested in tea - but it's worthwhile remembering that Hong Kong was pretty much founded on the British quest for tea and the subsequent means of funding it...(by trading opium - in case you are historically challenged)

In the film it's the house where Emmanuelle lives with her husband and their entourage of servants and hangers-on. I can't vouch for the interior rooms but it's quite possible they were used for filming as well - either that or there was a very convincing studio set.

So, I did eventually make it back to Hong Kong Park over the summer (2016) and took a few comparative pictures. One thing I did notice is that in the second screen shot with the car, the building had extra columns extending beyond the front entrance. It was a small portico that has since been removed. Why? I have no idea because I don't think its position interfered with anything there currently. What a shame.

Yellowthread Street (TV Series) - Bruce Payne (1990) - Various aerial pictures of Central, Hong Kong

No specific locations here but some nice aerial views taken from the opening section of Episode 6: Fan Tan Man. The quality isn't great (remember, these are screen grabs from a DVD that was made from a VHS copy that was done when the original series was shown in the UK back in 1990/91 (can't remember when it was exactly - I just wish ITV would release a proper restored DVD...)

The first two pictures give us a nice view across the Central harbourfront. The little bit of harbour water seen on the lower right on the bottom picture has now all been reclaimed and those piers you can see have completely gone.

The above picture shows the area around the (now named) Lippo Centre. We can see Hong Kong Park being created from the old Victoria Barracks and the tall building on the left is the Queensway Govt Offices. Just to the left of that is the shell of what was to become the Island Shangri-La (2 Pacific Place). Eagle-eyed readers may also spot the Hongkong Hilton just behind the B.O.C tower.

Again, another shot that is now be water-less courtesy of the reclamation that the IFC sits on top of. Of course we can see the old (and better located) Star Ferry piers and to the right of there is the last incarnation of Blake Pier. Actually, until I saw this I wasn't too sure where it was but now I can see it started right next to the GPO in front of Jardine House. I guess Man Yiu Street occupies some of that now.

The last few shots show the old helicopter landing pad that used to sit on the waterfront in front of Caine House (that's the low-rise building we can see at various distances on all three snaps, but is at the background on the lower picture) - it's better known as being the Central Police HQ. The are where the landing was is now partly occupied by the intersection of Lung Wui and Lung Wo roads. The site is largely empty still but slowly being redeveloped (into what?). The basin on the right in the top picture was originally part of HMS Tamar and now has the new Central Govt Offices on it.