Intimate Confessions of
a Chinese Courtesan
Reviewed by Simon Booth
Eighteen year old Ainu (Lily Ho) is kidnapped
and sold to a brothel. Her good looks and wild personality make her very
popular with the lustful clients, but also draws the lesbian attentions
of brothel madam Betty Tei Pei. Betty teaches Ainu the ways of lust and
the ways of kung fu, and Ainu becomes more and more similar to her captor.
But rage at her treatment is still burning inside her.
INTIMATE CONFESSIONS... ("Ainu" is the Chinese
title) is another wu xia film from ace director Chor Yuen, but this time
the exploitation angle often present in his films is brought right into
centre stage. Chor Yuen seems to have been fascinated by lesbians, but
this is the only film of his that I've seen where he gives them the starring
roles. Both Lily Ho and Betty Pei Ti give sterling performances as the
beautiful but vicious martial arts hookers, and they're joined by a cast
of Shaws starlets in the nude to create a pre-Cat III film that balances
action, intrigue and eroticism surprisingly well. The film is the acknowledged
inspiration for Clarence Fok's NAKED KILLER, the ultimate Cat III classic.
As with all Chor Yuen's films, AINU is filmed
entirely on Shaw Brothers sound stages, and features his trademark opulent
art direction and cinematography. The plot is less labyrinthine than in
many of his wu xia works, probably because Gu Long was in no way involved.
In fact, the plot is probably too straight forward - the film runs less
than 90 minutes, and doesn't develop its characters or situations as much
as I would have liked. It still has a certain amount of depth and sophistication
that is exceptionally unusual in a film centred on sex.
Yueh Hua has a small role as a hapless police
officer, but it's undoubtedly the women that are the stars of the film.
Even in the action scenes, which are not the main focus but are a pleasant
bonus, it's Lily Ho and especially Betty Tei Pei that dominate. Given that
neither of the ladies are martial artists they do a good job in the fights,
with stunt doubles being noticeable but not distracting.
Ultimately it’s the characters and the situations
that make the film interesting, and the art direction, cinematography and
naked flesh that make it compelling. I enjoyed the film on a number of
levels, and even my girlfriend was positively disposed towards it. I just
wish it had been about 30 minutes longer, and spent a bit more time developing
its story.
Definitely recommended (8.5/10).
Trailer
(Editor's Note - Chor Yuen was to do a remake
in 1984 titled "Lust for Love of a Chinese Courtesan" that stars Candice
Yu - the ex-wife of Chow Yun Fat. If my memory serves me, it had a much
more soft-core feel to it than his original and isn't nearly as good a
film - this one was I thought enormous fun, very stylish and like
watching two deadly but lovely scorpions circle each other for 90-minutes
- and it is one of my favorite Shaw discoveries thus far.)