Templo de Pou Chai, Macau - Now and Then

Not far from Lou Lim Ioc Garden is the famous old Pou Chai Temple (Templo de Pou Chai). Also known as Kun Iam Temple, it was the location of the signing of the first Sino-American treaty (Treaty of Mong Ha) in 1844. There used to be a stone table where the signing took place, but on my recent trip I couldn't find it. I believe it was also once the location of a kidnapping attempt on Fu Tak Iam - Macau's first casino tycoon before it was wrestled from his grasp by Stanley Ho and Henry Fok et al via STDM.

For the purpose of this blog, it's connection to the film world comes from Narazumono (aka An Outlaw) where it was used as the Hong Kong location of the drug gang boss.

I've tried to get some comparisons but my reference material was hindered by the extreme amount of sunlight on the day - meaning I couldn't really see properly - but you get the general idea from the comparisons.

The temple remains largely unchanged since 1964, but you will notice that the large tree on the right in the first image below has been replaced by a small annex building. There looks to have been some changes on the temple roof, but this is hardly surprising given that we have had 62 years worth of typhoons to contend with since the film was made. It's not surprising that some of the Shekwan pottery has gone missing/been replaced.

In terms of the alleyway shot, there are actually two alleyways that run either side of the central altar buildings and it's not easy to tell which one they used in the film. They both look exacatly the same to the point where I can't remember which one it is I have used below for my comparison.

The final images show one of the smaller shrine rooms (on the east side of the complex I think) and the film image is largely obscured by the dark patch on the left used for the Japanese screen titles. In reality the room is quite open and behind the darkened bit is the shrine area.

The front gatehouse above has had an annex added on the right

The main temple roof

One of the side alleyways

Narazumono - Ken Takakura (1964) - Templo de Pou Chai, Macau

Here's a straggler from Narazumono that I managed to track down during a recent re-examination of the film during the pandemic. In the story, Minami (Takakura) meets with Myoran (Yôko Mihara) at the Cenotaph in Central and she agrees to take him to see her boss. The meeting place is the back building of a temple and the location they used for this scene was actually in Macau rather than Hong Kong. So here we are at the famous Kwun Iam Temple aka Templo de Pou Chai in Macau.

João Maria Ferreira do Amaral Statue, Lisbon

Not a film location per se but I was just in Lisbon, Portugal and took the chance to visit a remnant from Macau that has popped up in a few films over the years. The remnant is the statue of João Maria Ferreira do Amaral, the Macau Governor between 1846 and 1849. His tenure ended by his assassination by a group of Chinese following do Amaral's rather confrontational stance against the Chinese in and around Macau. You can read more about him over at wiki, but suffice to say his historical legacy is one of the reasons why this statue is now in Lisbon and not in Macau. The statue was initially installed on Praça de Ferreira do Amaral in June 1940. It depicts the one armed do Amaral swinging a sword (looks more like a stick to be honest) down at unseen aggressors. 

The statue used to sit atop a large stone column in the centre of Praça de Ferreira do Amaral and it was in this location where we can see it in several movies featured on the blog including Narazumono.

There's a brief glimpse in Asia-Pol Secret Service as well.

And there is another brief scene in Challenge of the Tiger.

So what happened? Well, do Amaral was such a hated figure to the Chinese (understadable) that the CCP demanded the statue's removal from Macau prior to the handover in 1999. The Portuguese authorities acquiesced in November 1991 and the monument was dismantled. The statue was shipped back to Lisbon (does anyone know what happened to the plinth?) and now sits in a park - Jardim da Alameda da Encarnação - attached to a suburban housing estate right next to Lisbon airport (you can walk there, as I did, from Terminal 1 in about 10 minutes - what can I say, I was flying Easyjet and my return flight was delayed for 2 hours).

The statue may have gone but the area in Macau where it once stood - Praça de Ferreira do Amaral - still bares his name.

Tai Hang Tung Road - Now and Then

I took this one last year before my extended trip to the UK and simply forgot I had it. The Then image is taken from 1964's Narazumono, starring Ken Takakura. You can see my original post from 2 years ago here. The scene is a bit disjointed because the two characters in the shot, on rickshaws, have just descended from Victoria Peak on the tram and then the next moment they are all the way up in Sham Shui Po District (as it is now) and on Tai Hang Tung Road next to the old resettlement estate.

The old estate was similar in design to the nearby Shek Kip Mei Estate, so it's common to get confused between the two if you are not familiar with the area. They were built around teh same time following the 1953 Shek Kip Mei fire. The old estate was knocked down in the early 80s and rebuilt into the slightly larger buildings you can see today.

Funnily enough, until just a few years ago, the red-checked building of the Concordia Lutheran School (see in the background of the movie still) was still around and has only recently been replaced with a brand new modern building.

In an update to this post, I also noticed that A Cause to Kill - a Shaw movie from 1969 - also filmed along this street albeit a little further to the south (behind the camera). So here is a similar view from that film and my poor attempt to recreate it below.

Narazumono - Ken Takakura (1964) - Ponte No. 17, Macau

The very last scene in the film was shot back up towards Ponte No.17. Essentially the waterfront area that disappeared when the Sofitel Hotel was built at the inner harbour end of Avenida de Almeida Ribeiro. In the top image we can see the police car driving up Rua das Lorchas towards the camera with Ponte No.16 (built in 1948) on the right hand side and on the left of the image is the edge of the Hotel Grande.

The car goes by and immediately turns into a waterfront area that no longer exists and is instead these days occupied by part of the Sofitel development. The grey painted shack on the waterfront should be the no-longer-existing Ponte No.17 (Pontes 17 through 20 have all gone the way of the Dodo due to the hotel development).

Narazumono - Ken Takakura (1964) - Quartel dos Mouros, Macau

Known to English speakers as the Moorish Barracks, this building dates back to the 1870s. Its original use was for a contingent of marine police newly recruited from India (perhaps from Goa given that it was also a Portuguese colony?) hence the design of the verandah openings giving the building a very Islamic aesthetic. These days it is occupied by the Capitania dos Portos de Macau - the local Port Authority.

This is where Minami goes to exact his final revenge on the people that set him up and although that actual scene appears to be a studio set, the run up/aftermath to it was filmed along the front verandah and neighbouring street, Calçada de Barra.

The top image shows the view west from the verandah, looking across the inner harbour towards China, a mere 500 or so metres across the water. The same row of houses seen in the lower portion of that image can also be seen in the third image as Minami emerges from his battle and walks past one of the veranda openings.

The next two images show the view outside the building as Minami falls down the main steps at the bottom of Beco da Rede. The lower image shows the police car driving down Calçada de Barra.

Narazumono - Ken Takakura (1964) - Calçada das Verdades, Macau

Just prior to the film finale, Minami and Hirogami take a contemplative walk through some nearby streets. This small road is Calçada das Verdades and the small shrine you can see in the foreground of the second image is in fact part of the larger Na Cha temple (哪吒古廟)that still sits in this location - and in fact doesn't look to have changed at all in the last 50 intervening years, unlike the surrounding residential buildings that have all been replaced.

Narazumono - Ken Takakura (1964) - Calçada do Poco, Macau

A few moments later during the foot chase scene and the two assassins turn a sharp corner and run down a hill. Even though all the older buildings have gone, the road shape and even the newer buildings shapes, remain the same. The road they are on in the first two images is Rua de São Miguel and this morphs into Calçada do Poco as they turn the corner and head downhill.

Narazumono - Ken Takakura (1964) - Rua de Sanches de Miranda, Macau

After being chased from the top of Calçada Central de São Lazaro by the cops, one of the first roads we see the two men running down is actually not far away from their start point. In fact the first two images were filmed just a few yards away from the top of the steps where the chase starts from. The second two mages show the view from he top of the steps on Calçada da Igreja de São Lazaro. This is almost an exact match to an angle we saw on The Game of Death 14 years later. Here is the reminder from that film so you can see it is the same place.

Narazumono - Ken Takakura (1964) - Calçada Central de S. Lázaro, Macau

Immediately after leaving Largo do Senado, the pair are walking up Calçada Central de S. Lázaro trying to pretend that they don't realise they are being followed by the police. As they get top the top of the steps, next to the Pátio de S. Lázaro, they make a run for it and the cops give chase.

Actually, most of the buildings along this road have been replaced (apart from one in image 4 centre left with an arched lintel over the doorway that looks to still be around) and the general low-rise feel to the area, still maintained one street over on Calçada da Igreja de S. Lázaro, has been lost. Even the stone steps you see below are now quite enclosed these days by comparison.

Calçada Central de S. Lázaro with Pátio de S. Lázaro on the right

This is the view up Rua de São Roque from Calçada Central de S. Lázaro

Narazumono - Ken Takakura (1964) - Largo do Senado, Macau

The two assassins agree to meet up the following day (or maybe later the same day) and their rendezvous point is one of Macau's most famous meeting points in front of the old Post Office, the Direcção dos Serviços de Correios. It's here where the two first start noticing that they are being watched and we get a few views around the square before it underwent a face-lift that helped Macau get recognised as a UNESCO World Heritage Site (Historic Centre of Macau).