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.)