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| All Images Courtesy: 88 Films, Celestial Pictures |
88 Films continues their excellent blu-ray series of Shaw Brothers productions with a decidedly different sort of movie for the iconic Hong Kong studio: 1974’s prestigious and rather saucy chamber drama The Golden Lotus. Far from the sort of martial arts, wuxia, or genre fare with which Shaw Brothers are typically associated among their international fans, this is an opulently shot period drama with no martial arts or action whatsoever, but a tangled tale of forbidden love, romantic and political double-crosses, and plenty of sex, based on a classic 17th-century novel. Its appeal among modern film-lovers may be a bit more niche, as it will be much more of interest to those with a deeper love of the history and breadth of Hong Kong cinema than those who are more specifically fans of Shaw Brothers action or period martial arts films, but 88 have given it a pretty solid (if barebones in terms of extras) package.
THE FILM:
A wealthy aristocrat (Peter Yang) becomes infatuated with a working-class married woman (Hu Chin), and sets out to seduce her, beginning a relationship that has disastrous consequences when they are found out by a local salesman (a very young Jackie Chan in a comedic, non-action early role). While their relationship continues, he soon becomes infatuated with another woman, tossing his newfound love aside for the next affair, and so begins a string of events as the increasingly reprehensible aristocrat uses, devastates, and discards a series of women for pleasure, power, or money. All the while, his wife from the initial affair watches with increasing bitterness, and everyone keeps saying that it’s only a matter of time before karma catches up to him and his awful ways…
The story plays out as a chamber drama of seductions and betrayals, following both the lecherous aristocrat and his selfish and cruel ways, and the women he hurts who are tragically bound to their fates by a sexist and classist society where they have no power or recourse to avenge themselves. The film is definitely critical of the sexist power structures of this era of history, where women were often trapped by dynamics like this, and largely powerless at the mercy of powerful men. But the film is also looking at this story from the perspective of the early-1970s, and its own gender politics and power dynamics can feel quite dated and problematic, particularly in a couple scenes that are creepily hazy about questions of consent. The movie also absolutely is trying to have its cake and eat it too, functioning at the same time as a lavish and prestigious costume drama and a pretty horny and explicit-for-its-day sex film, with a couple scenes almost bordering on softcore. It’s an odd mix, and definitely an artifact of its day, and may be more interesting as a study of a particular snapshot in Hong Kong cinema history than as a film in its own right.
The film really takes its time telling its story, and is quite observational, following the characters as they go about their lives and seductions and betrayals over years, with quite a loose plot from moment to moment. Pacing and structure-wise it definitely feels like an old-fashioned period-piece of a film (the level of horniness that is quite atypical for an old-fashioned period-piece aside), and there definitely will be modern viewers who struggle with its slow and loose pacing. Others will definitely find it more of an academically interesting film than a particularly entertaining or enjoyable one. Finding it academically interesting, as a lover of Hong Kong cinema, watching it as a prime example of an opulently-made old-fashioned chamber drama, was definitely where I got the most out of it, while I admit that I sometimes found the story a bit too meandering in places. Serious lovers of the history of Hong Kong or Chinese cinema is definitely who I would most likely recommend it to.
The area where The Golden Lotus is by far the most successful and compelling, and where it is most worth recommending to cinephiles with a taste for old-fashioned epic films, is in its lavish visuals. This is a dazzlingly beautiful movie. The 2.35:1 Shawscope cinematography is absolutely stunning, with beautiful shot compositions, elaborate camera moves, and a fantastic command of visual language. It appears to be entirely shot on soundstages, and all of the sets are massive and ornate and incredibly detailed. It truly is a lavish production, with beauty on a grand scale. Even when I was not always gripped by the story, I was always enraptured by the visuals of the film.
It is a film that you can watch and marvel at purely as a piece of cinematic craft and artifice, and that is certainly where its legacy is worth celebrating. That is probably the best way to watch it, to enjoy the lavishness of the production, and other strengths like its early supporting performance from Jackie Chan, despite its other notable flaws. It isn’t a masterpiece, but it absolutely does show what stunning period-costume-drama production work Shaw Brothers Films was capable of, and it definitely is deserving of the 88 Films special edition treatment as such.
THE 88 FILMS LIMITED EDITION:
88 Films presents The Golden Lotus in a pretty swanky physical package, but the disc itself is sadly entirely barebones. For physical collectors who appreciate some nice bells and whistles, the disc comes housed in a shiny gold-foiled slipcase with its beautiful new artwork, and includes a set of art cards inside commemorating stills from the movie (including one with Jackie Chan in his small role). The only extra on the disc, however, is the original trailer.
The disc presents the film in an HD transfer from the original negative provided to 88 Films by Celestial Pictures, with the original Mandarin mono audio, and no other options. The transfer looks very nice: detail is strong, color and contrast are rich, and I saw no visible defects. It’s not a 2k or 4k transfer, but it looks great all the same, and I have no complaints. The audio is likewise nice and clean, and totally fine with no issues. It’s a solid technical presentation.
It is too bad that 88 Films could not commission a new commentary or anything like that, to give the film a bit more context or appreciation. As it is, all we get is the movie to speak for itself, in a nice HD transfer and very cool packaging. The film itself isn’t one that I would recommend to anyone, or even recommend to most Hong Kong cinema fans, but if it sounds relevant to your interests, especially as an appreciator of the full breadth of vintage Hong Kong cinema, 88 Films have put together a pretty nice package in which to check it out.
- Christopher S. Jordan
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