Between the Devil and the Deep Blue Sea - Stephen Rea (1995) - Ocean Terminal, Tsim Sha Tsui

Nikos is able to secure passage on another vessel and boards it at Ocean Terminal.

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.

Between the Devil and the Deep Blue Sea - Stephen Rea (1995) - Lion's Club Pavilion, The Peak

Unfortunately we don't get to see how they get up to the Peak, but at the top there is the Lion's Club  Pavilion andits very famous view.

Between the Devil and the Deep Blue Sea - Stephen Rea (1995) - The Peak Tram Open Top Bus, Central

I'm not sure if this thing still runs, I don't think it does but I could be wrong because I have only just made it back up to the Peak following a break of almost 10 years. Lots has changed. I didn't see this bus around so I assume it has gone the way of many other great things (some tangible, some not so) in Hong Kong and disappeared.

 Anyway, back during my multiple trips in the 90s you used to be able to catch this free, dedicated open-top bus from Edinburgh Place, outside the old Star Ferry pier. It didn't go to the Peak, it just trundled up to the Lower Peak Tram Terminus, offload and refill passengers, and then go back down again, but it was a short and very enjoyable journey through a small part of Central. Did I mention it was free? Nikos and Li do the same in the film, although they don't appear to be quite as excited about it as I used to get all those years ago.

Fun fact: when I first moved to Hong Kong in 2006, I think a one way ticket on the peak tram was HK$14, and a return $28. Now it's $62 for a one way trip and $88 for a return and each tram now has four carriages (it used to be two).

Between the Devil and the Deep Blue Sea - Stephen Rea (1995) - Yau Ma Tei Wholesale Fruit Market

The sites of Nikos and Li's walk seem to change between Hong Kong and Kowloon. In this scene they are walking through Ya Ma Tei's famous wholesale fruit market.

Between the Devil and the Deep Blue Sea - Stephen Rea (1995) - Ma Tau Kok Public Pier, Ma Tau Kok

The day Nikos decides to go on land, he and Li catch a sampan to the Ma Tau Kok Public Pier. The pier is located next door to the Kowloon City Ferry Pier which can be seen in the background of the first image.

Between the Devil and the Deep Blue Sea - Stephen Rea (1995) - Victoria Harbour

Next on the list is a mid-90's film based on a short story written by Nikos Kavvadias. Between the Devil and the Deep Blue Sea stars Stephen Rea as Nikos, a Greek sailor who arrives in Hong Kong just as the company that owns the ship he is working on goes out of business. This leaves him and his fellow sailors stranded for a few days until they can find new jobs and move on. In the meantime a little girl is sent to the ship by her family to offer her services as a maid. The backstory to the girl (living on her wits amongst the Hong Kong boat people) feels a little before the time this movie was made - feasible in the 1960s and even 1970s but certainly a bit unbelievable for the 1990s setting of the film. Anyway, after an initial reluctance, Nikos grows fond of the girl and it forces him to rethink his life and perhaps return to his abandoned girlfriend and the child they had together.

Much of the earlier part of the film is set on the ship as it sits in the harbour, but later on the pair decide to explore the "land" together, so we get a small number of locations to include here as a result.

It looks to me as though the ship is moored somewhere to the west of Kowloon because the odd bit of skyline that can be seen is Stonecutter Island, the west end of Hong Kong Island and, in a couple of shots, the mass of floating dredging platforms that are being used to created the West Kowloon Reclamation.

Stonecutters Island on the left

West Kowloon dredgers in the background

The west end of Hong Kong Island in the distance