Cover ‘Kowloon Walled City: A Cinematic Journey’ (Photo: courtesy of the Cultural and Creative Industries Development Agency and the Film Development Fund)
‘Kowloon Walled City: A Cinematic Journey’ (Photo: courtesy of the Cultural and Creative Industries Development Agency and the Film Development Fund)
1 / 1
The exhibition, which showcases the award-winning Hong Kong movie’s sets and costumes, is now open in Kowloon Walled City and will feature sets from key scenes such as the eatery where Louis Koo’s character feeds Raymond Lam
After the airport and Airside, the Kowloon Walled City: A Cinematic Journey exhibition, which presents iconic movie sets and costumes from Soi Cheang’s action crime movie Twilight of the Warriors: Walled In (2024), is now open at Yamen, Kowloon Walled City, which is a declared historical monument.
Running for three years, the exhibition showcases sets from key movie scenes, including the No 7 Restaurant, where Cyclone (played by Louis Koo) treats refugee Chan Lok-kwan (Raymond Lam) to a bowl of cha siu rice; the barber shop; grocery store; bone-setting clinic; tailor shop; repair shop; communal well; and the city’s narrow alleys filled with electric cables.
The barber shop (Photo: courtesy of the Cultural and Creative Industries Development Agency and the Film Development Fund)
1 / 4
This edition also presents new scenes that were not available in the previous shows, such as a dental clinic and a fish ball factory. Additionally, there is a plastic moulding workshop that is not in the movie. “The creative team wanted to make one about plastic moulding as a nod to this industry that was crucial to the city’s economic growth in the 1980s,” says the organiser.
Another new element is the Rooftop of Light and Shadow in the Walled City section, where there is a large screen projecting the day and night views of the neighbourhood in the old days, accompanied by the roaring sounds of the low-flying aircraft. This creates the illusion for visitors that they are looking out to the city from a rooftop inside Kowloon Walled City.
Rooftop of Light and Shadow in the Walled City (Photo: courtesy of the Cultural and Creative Industries Development Agency and the Film Development Fund)
1 / 4
The organisers also pride themselves on using traditional local crafts to create a hand-painted ceremonial flower board and an iron honourific arch that says “Kowloon Walled City” at the courtyard. Some of the exhibition’s floor tiles are repurposed from old buildings, paying tribute to the iconic style of the era.
All the sets in the exhibition are not the original ones used in the movie and are re-created by a local artist. That does not take away the charm of the exhibition, however. The past two editions have been popular among visitors who wanted to see the intricate designs and details of these old shops, dangerous structures and narrow alleys of the notorious Kowloon Walled City up close. In case you missed the shows last time, here’s your chance to get your dose of cinematic experience in Hong Kong.
Zabrina is the Senior Editor, Arts and Culture of Tatler Hong Kong. She specialises in performing arts, visual art and film. Her wanderlust was first fuelled by the Mighty Rovers Antarctica Expedition 2010. Over the years, she has interviewed A-list artists and filmmakers, including Oscar winners Chlóe Zhao and Tim Yip, Golden Horse winner Sylvia Chang, In the Mood for Love cinematographer Christopher Doyle, Pachinko author Min Jin Lee, and Coachella’s first Chinese solo singer Jackson Wang. She won gold at the WAN-IFRA Asian Media Awards for her 2021 feature on the waves of hate crimes targeting Asian Americans.
