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| Images courtesy of 88 Films |
The debut film of Cherry Blossoms director Eddie Fong
known as An Amorous Woman of Tang Dynasty from 1984 represents one of
the last films made in Hong Kong’s legendary Shaw Brothers studio grounds and
maybe one of the best examples of the erotica subgenre of films. While the Shaw Brothers empire has seen their
fair share of historically grounded sumptuous examples of the erotic drama ala Facets
of Love and The Golden Lotus, this was one of the premier iterations
of the subgenre featuring fully fledged, complicated characters navigating
their way through a repressive society poised against modern women’s
roles. Distinctly feminist in nature and
approach with a bit of a Tinto Brass edge to it regarding a free-thinking woman
making her own sexual choices whether people get hurt in the process or not, An
Amorous Woman of Tang Dynasty comes to blu-ray for the first time via 88
Films in a new deluxe special limited edition.
While featuring ample sex, nudity and graphic violence including but not
limited to beheadings, this turned out to be one of the most engaging and
surprising offerings from the Shaw Brothers totem.
Set during the Tang Dynasty, this period erotica follows Yu
Yuan-gi (Patricia Ha), an intelligent well-read young poet and scholar who
makes a conscious decision to become a Taoist priestess to freely evade the
social expectations of women. From a
scene where she freely swims naked, climbs aboard the boat of a wandering
swordsman Tsui Po-hou (Alex Man) and promptly seduces him to later scenes where
she begins making sexual moves on her female maid Lu Chiao (Monica Lam), Yu is
a troublemaker aimed at overturning societal norms while her own lusting for
her maid. Eventually, through thick and
thin including a brothel of geishas besieged by murderous bandits, Yu’s obsession
with her maid grows more intense and dangerous echoing the autoerotic asphyxiation
threads of Nagisa Oshima’s In the Realm of the Senses. Despite having many sex scenes and graphic
nudity, this is ultimately a character study of a woman ahead of her time whose
desires tragically become all encompassing.
With breathtaking cinematography and blocking by Once
Upon a Time in China cameraman Ardy Lam, a rousing score by Farewell
China composer Jim Shum and committed performances from principal actors
Patricia Ha and Monica Lam who go the full distance with respect to baring all
vulnerabilities onscreen, An Amorous Woman of Tang Dynasty is perhaps
the most rewarding and boldly daring example of Shaw Brothers produced period
erotica whose free thinking heroine over the course of the movie evolves into
something of a deadly succubus. Set in
the past but urgently grounded in present thinking, the film represents the
tale end of the Shaw Brothers studio empire as a classy and stylish feminist
picture. For everything that unfolds
onscreen, it never tips over into exploitation or sleaze and instead remains a
trained actresses’ picture with occasional swordplay but mostly complex sexual
relationships playing out across the silver screen.
88 Films’ deluxe edition blu-ray, like many other standalone
Shaw Brothers releases they’ve handled in the past, comes housed with original reversible
sleeve art as well as a limited slipcover and double-sided poster. Included in the extras is an audio commentary
by journalist David West and there’s a video essay regarding Alex Man’s
involvement in the film. While the Shaw
Brothers and eventual emergence of the Category III rating pushed ahead with
transgressive or bumpier than usual erotica, this was one of the few times
where the cast and crew got every element precisely right all the way through
its final, haunted closing shot. 88
Films’ disc release is great and those who think they know the more sensual
weathers of the Shaw Scope giant are in for quite a surprise with An Amorous
Woman of Tang Dynasty, a film that speaks to the feminine impulse even as
its heroine crosses an irredeemable rubicon.
Sensual period erotic dramas rarely ever get this deeply emotionally involved.
--Andrew Kotwicki
