Kick up your feet and read Michelle's review of Sex and Zen.
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| "Oh my!!! How did that fit? Those shoes are way too small." |
I am not embarrassed to admit I enjoy watching pornography
from time to time and I especially love the more outlandish movies that have
cropped up over the years. Sex and Zen
is one such film; combining soft-core sex with high-flying Wuxia style scenes and
hilarious comedic hi-jinx. It’s been classified as a Hong Kong Category III
film, which equates to a NC-17 rating here in the states. Cat III films are
notorious for having explicit sex and gore and they are usually exploitation
horror films. Sex and Zen is billed
as a sex comedy and has a very lighthearted tone for the most part.
The plot of the film is based on a 17th century Chinese
novel called The Carnal Prayer Mat, and
follows the adventures of a lecherous scholar (Lawrence Ng) who wants to learn
techniques to help him sleep with married women easier. He meets the world’s
greatest thief who gives him some rather interesting advice (involving a horse
penis transplant) to help him on his sexual conquests. Everything that happens
in this film is utterly ridiculous and zany; it is a step up from most
pornographic film storylines and remains entertaining for the entire duration. This
film is a period piece as well and had a lavish twelve million dollar budget. The
costumes and sets look quite extravagant and director Michael Mak did a great
job of making the film look like a high quality production. Unfortunately, the
musical score is somewhat bland and unobtrusive but it doesn’t detract from the
overall film too much.
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| "Yummmm....tastes just like chicken." |
As for the sex scenes, each one has a unique style and they
are all executed wonderfully. Some are done in a comedic style but most are
meant to be sensual and titillating. One scene, filmed almost entirely
underwater, is amazing and has to be seen to be believed. The cinematography is
pretty good most of the time and they use wire-fu techniques for some of the
sexual positions which is hilarious to watch. Most of the actors and actresses
had been in previous Cat III sex films but they put in natural and convincing
performances. It is soft-core however, so there are no penetration shots or
male genitals directly shown. There are a plethora of boobs if you are into
that kind of thing though.
Sex and Zen did
quite well at the box office and it spawned two inferior sequels in the wake of
its success. Several of the actors and actresses went on to become bigger
mainstream film stars but the stigma of being in a pornographic film did follow
them for most of their careers. I think this movie is fun to watch and
transcends being just an ordinary sleazy porno because of the care and love put
into the actual film. If you are a fan of naughty films and kung-fu movies, you
will definitely have a good time watching Sex
and Zen; it’s worth tracking down just for the experience.
-Michelle Kisner