Lust, Caution - Tang Wei (2007) - The Verandah, Repulse Bay

This is the restaurant where Tony Leung takes Tang Wei on their first surreptitious meeting. We last saw it in the film Boarding Gate although I have since been informed that the replica building (replica of the original Repulse Bay Hotel, that is) this sits in is constructed from the same bricks that made the original. Apparently when the demolition took place the bricks were put into storage until needed. It's one of those tidbits of information that is not easily confirmed but worth including in case anyone can confirm either way.

Lust, Caution - Tang Wei (2007) - Hong Kong University, Pok Fu Lam

In the film, the main protagonist (played by Tang wei) attends Lingnan University where she is first introduced to her revolutionary compatriots through their acting troupe. The scenes were actually filmed at Hong Kong University and there are several familiar locations that we saw earlier in the year when looking at John Lone's Shadow of China.

The initial establishing shot is a computer generated view of what Hong Kong should have looked like in the late 1930's. I think the filmmakers did a fairly decent job and you can see the result in the first picture.

The main building has several courtyards and there are a couple of scenes filmed here on the upper floor and also on the ground around an ornamental pond that was also seen in the aforementioned Shadow of China.

We also get to see a few brief views of the main entrance to the university's main building as the audience files in to enjoy the show.

And, finally, the hall in which the show takes place is the Loke Yew Hall.

Lust, Caution - Tang Wei (2007) - Tin Hau Temple Road, Tai Hang

I have Hiram to thank for this following location (I would never have been able to locate it otherwise) from a comment he left on one of my posts last year. Yes, sometimes it really does take me that long to get around to doing stuff!

It's the dai pai dong scene and as you can read from Hiram's comment, the crew weren't really supposed to be there. The steps mentioned are still around and lead up to a road referred to as New Eastern Terrace, although Centamap still has an offshoot of Tin Hau Temple Road. In the upper picture you can see an old wall at the top of the steps at the back, but either it was fake or has since been replaced by a new development ("The Pavilia Hill"). I suspect the latter.

Lust, Caution - Tang Wei (2007) - Ma Tau Wan, High Island

I'm currently looking again at Lust, Caution and have found a few more locations that I missed following my initial, rather cursory, viewing. You can see the original posts here and here with updated screenshots.

One of the locations I had trouble finding initially was the nondescript beach where the would-be agents are practicing their marksmanship with pistols. This one took me an age to locate but I finally found it nestling on the southern coast of High Island in Sai Kung District. The beach doesn't appear to have a specific name but the maps refer to the general area as Ma Tau Wan (lit: horse head area) and actually, if you turn the map around, that part of High Island does actually resemble a horse's head!

If you want to see the exact location then click on the location label at the bottom on the post but for locals who are familiar with the general area then its quite near to the Sha Kiu Tau restaurants. From a filming point of view, the only way to get here is by boat - although if you aren't lugging around a ton of film equipment, you can hike to it from High Island reservoir road.

Lust, Caution - Tang Wei (2007) - The White House, Victoria Road

The Hong Kong compound where Mr Yee (Tony Leung) and his wife (Joan Chen) live in Hong Kong is a rather enigmatic place along Victoria Road that is usually referred to as The White House. The location is along Victoria Road at the base of Mount Davis between Kennedy Town and Pok Fu Lam.

Centamap has it marked as part of an old disused battery but in fact it was originally a mess building for the Royal Engineers. During the 1950's it was given over to Special Branch and used as a detention centre for suspected spies. This included it being used during the 1967 riots as a holding place for trouble makers - it was remote enough to hold people without any interference while the authorities waited for the troubles to cool down. More recently there are rumours that it was used as a staging point and debriefing centre for Tiananmen Square protesters who had managed to flee the military crackdown on the Mainland and were spirited away with the help of the HK authorities and other international jurisdictions including the USA (see Operation Yellowbird here).

These days it is currently being redeveloped into an international University campus for MBA teaching. The company responsible for its redevelopment has promised to protect as much of it as possible but I guess we will have to wait and see how it turns out.

Lust, Caution - Tang Wei (2007) - #30 Po Shan Road, Midlevels

The main house where the wannabe agents stay as their cover was a rather glorious looking art deco mansion block that used to stand on Po Shan Road. The picture below is from an excellent website called Urban Ghosts Media (sadly, no longer live) because by the time I had starting looking into the locations on this film, the building had already been demolished. Such a travesty in my opinion, but there you go.

I have no idea whether or not the plot has been redeveloped yet, but Streetview and Google seem to say otherwise. This means the land has been sitting empty for at least 5 years and I suspect the rush to demolish was motivated by the need to remove the building before anybody got the idea into their heads that it needed some sort of protection. Welcome to Hong Kong!

Po Shan Road