SECONDS INTO THE opening scene of Crazy Rich Asians (2018), eagle-eyed Penangites would have found the fictional Calthorpe Hotel in London to be suspiciously familiar. The dark wooden revolving door that welcomes visitors into an interior of sprawling marble floors, polished white-framed glass doors and colonial-style furniture is unmistakably the Eastern and Oriental (E&O) Hotel on Lebuh Farquhar, Penang.
For the last two decades, Malaysia as location has attracted a string of international filmmakers, with its nature-scapes and characteristic melting pot of cultures, and landmarks that are a delightful mix of the traditional and the modern. Penang, in the last decade alone, was featured in Indian Summers (2015-2016), The Singapore Grip (2020), The Little Nyonya (2020) and The Ghost Bride (2020).
These present Penang with a unique opportunity for film-induced tourism, just as how fans still flock to New Zealand in pursuit of the Shire depicted in The Lord of the Rings franchise, or to trek to Siem Reap in Cambodia to experience the tree-tangled ancient temples shown in Lara Croft: Tomb Raider (2001) or Wong Kar-wai’s In The Mood for Love (2000). In Salzburg, Austria, there are even entire tours built around The Sound of Music.
