Showing posts with label Wing Lok Street. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Wing Lok Street. Show all posts
Thursday, January 7, 2021
Election - Simon Yam (2005) - Wing Lok Street, Central
After torturing the two guys by pushing them down the hill in wooden crates, the gang drop them off in town by pushing them out the back of a van on Wing Lok Street between Cosco Tower and Grand Millenium Plaza.
Sunday, April 26, 2020
Foxbat - Henry Silva (1977) - Bonham Strand Public Latrine, Sheung Wan
Here's another one pulled from the recent bluray review. The scene when A-Cheung gets out of the car and hides in a toilet was filmed along Bonham Strand. For anyone familiar with the area where Bonham Strand meets Morrison Street and Wing Lok Street there is now a triangular paved area (the paving stones make up a large compass face on the ground) that is marked on maps as a rest garden. Wing Lok Street is now split into two by this rest garden, but back in 1977 it was a continuous road and the triangular island formed between the three roads hosted the toilet block that can be seen in the film. I tried to find out when it was built but could only find a mention in a 1941 public works document asking for tenders.
Anyway, as you can see on the screen caps it was constructed in a sort of streamline moderne/art deco style of building. When was it demolished? I'm not sure but it is perhaps worth mentioning that sometime in the early 80's the old south block of Western market, which used to stand on the southern part of Bonham Strand here, was demolished to make way for the ugly carbuncle that goes by the name of the Sheung Wan Municipal Services Building. So perhaps the toilet block was demolished at the same time and the area remodelled to its current configuration? If anybody can give me more accurate dates or events I would appreciate it.
The top image below is looking from east to west along Bonham Strand. Morrison Street is running left to right immediately behind the car. As you can see the toilet block behind the car consisted of a single storey and double storey part. Maybe the upper part was a bath house? This is quite a common thing for toilets in HK (not that I spend much time hanging around them I hasten to add...)
The above image shows the view looking north up Morrison Street, where the car is. The actor who plays A-Cheung (Yi Lui - 伊雷) is walking along Bonham Strand and in the background behind the car you can see a no right turn sign on Wing Lok Street. Wing Lok Street at the time continued behind the toilet block, but that part is now part of the rest garden.
Finally, the last shot below shows us looking back the other way up Morrison Street with the toilet block on the right. The brightly lit shop in the background was the "Kam Yuen Store". It occupied the ground floor of a building that still stands on the corner of Bonham Strand and Morrison Street. The current occupant of that space - at least the last time I was there - is a branch of Rich Harvest, a real estate agent. The ramshackle hoardings on the left are where Harmony Court now stands.
Anyway, as you can see on the screen caps it was constructed in a sort of streamline moderne/art deco style of building. When was it demolished? I'm not sure but it is perhaps worth mentioning that sometime in the early 80's the old south block of Western market, which used to stand on the southern part of Bonham Strand here, was demolished to make way for the ugly carbuncle that goes by the name of the Sheung Wan Municipal Services Building. So perhaps the toilet block was demolished at the same time and the area remodelled to its current configuration? If anybody can give me more accurate dates or events I would appreciate it.
The top image below is looking from east to west along Bonham Strand. Morrison Street is running left to right immediately behind the car. As you can see the toilet block behind the car consisted of a single storey and double storey part. Maybe the upper part was a bath house? This is quite a common thing for toilets in HK (not that I spend much time hanging around them I hasten to add...)
Front of the low block, you can see the Bonham Strand street sign.
The above image shows the view looking north up Morrison Street, where the car is. The actor who plays A-Cheung (Yi Lui - 伊雷) is walking along Bonham Strand and in the background behind the car you can see a no right turn sign on Wing Lok Street. Wing Lok Street at the time continued behind the toilet block, but that part is now part of the rest garden.
Finally, the last shot below shows us looking back the other way up Morrison Street with the toilet block on the right. The brightly lit shop in the background was the "Kam Yuen Store". It occupied the ground floor of a building that still stands on the corner of Bonham Strand and Morrison Street. The current occupant of that space - at least the last time I was there - is a branch of Rich Harvest, a real estate agent. The ramshackle hoardings on the left are where Harmony Court now stands.
Monday, November 6, 2017
The Medallion - Jackie Chan (2003) - Wing Lok Street, Central
Well, okay, not quite Wing Lok Street but basically the open space that sits between Cosco Tower and Grand Millennium Plaza.
The cafe where Chan is served by Edison Chen and Nicholas Tse looks as though it is the place at the bottom of Grand Millennium Plaza, but I'm not 100% sure. It seems to make sense though given the location of the opening shot.
The cafe where Chan is served by Edison Chen and Nicholas Tse looks as though it is the place at the bottom of Grand Millennium Plaza, but I'm not 100% sure. It seems to make sense though given the location of the opening shot.
Monday, January 30, 2012
Soldier of Fortune - Clark Gable (1955) - Des Voeux Road, Hong Kong
There's another great section of this film where Susan Hayward's stand-in (Dale Logue) rides a rickshaw around town in a vain search for her missing husband.
At one point we see her on a stretch of the Des Voeux Road which is almost as recognisable today even though all the buildings along it have changed - Hong Kong can be a bit weird like that. One feature that helps us place this shot is the building in the far background which is the old Wing On building. Wing On still occupies the same site today, albeit with a slightly more modern building.
The second recognisable part is the intersection of Des Voeux Road and Wing Lok Street which joins at a tangent to the left of the curved building in the background. The Streetview grab below shows pretty much the same angle as the film - the gold-windowed building (above the jaywalking pedestrian) being the modern day replacement of the curved one in the 1955 picture.
The bottom screen grab shows a closer view of the aforementioned Wing On building that can be seen in the background of the top picture. It is a good example of how film makers mess with geography because this second shot occurs almost immediately after the top shot even though Hayward's character can be seen moving away from it in the top shot.
At one point we see her on a stretch of the Des Voeux Road which is almost as recognisable today even though all the buildings along it have changed - Hong Kong can be a bit weird like that. One feature that helps us place this shot is the building in the far background which is the old Wing On building. Wing On still occupies the same site today, albeit with a slightly more modern building.
The second recognisable part is the intersection of Des Voeux Road and Wing Lok Street which joins at a tangent to the left of the curved building in the background. The Streetview grab below shows pretty much the same angle as the film - the gold-windowed building (above the jaywalking pedestrian) being the modern day replacement of the curved one in the 1955 picture.
The bottom screen grab shows a closer view of the aforementioned Wing On building that can be seen in the background of the top picture. It is a good example of how film makers mess with geography because this second shot occurs almost immediately after the top shot even though Hayward's character can be seen moving away from it in the top shot.
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