A corrupt local official, Xi Men Qing, who lusts after women and money, pursues his brother's young wife, Lee Ping Er. Ping finds Men attractive, and under her drunken husband's nose, she and Men work their way through the illustrations of a pillow book, the "Golden Lotus." Men pursues the same feat with his fourth concubine, Pan Jing Lien, who lives in the compound next to Ping. Jing's jealousy compounds a tale of humiliation, childbirth, death, and depravity. Does karma or enlightenment await anyone?
Golden Lotus is based, in part, on Jin Ping Mei, a famous erotic novel of ancient China. Li Han-Hsiang adapted part of the story into this film, which starts with Hsi Men Ching, a successful merchant, wooing Pan Chin Lien, the beautiful wife of one of the townspeople.
An old man of the village tells kinky ghost stories to a few of it's inhabitants after all the kids have gone to bed. What follows are stories that have horror elements and some soft-core nudity thrown in.
No list of the screen's comic geniuses would be complete without Michael Hui Kwun-man. He created a hilarious and lovable comic persona that was both uniquely Asian but also universally beloved. This, his first film, not only showcased his incomparable sense of humor but revolutionized Hong Kong comedy. Evoking Chaplin, he plays a warlord in early 20th Century China, but makes the role his own with both laughs and some of the sexiest ladies on the Shaw Brothers lot.
Perhaps the most notorious concubine in Chinese history, Yang Guifei set a pudgy standard of beauty in her days of glory during the Tang dynasty. The Emperor Minghuang was so besotted with the woman that when An Lushan stages his rebellion against the empire, the ruler takes Yang Guifei along with his imperial entourage in an escape to the mountainous area of modern-day Sichuan, and sanctuary of sorts. But the concubine had roused the jealousy of the court and unfortunately for her and to the great sorrow of the king, her brother and others among the king's retainers demanded she be strangled to death while they were still in the mountains. This is the story told in this interesting Taiwanese adaptation by director Li Han-hsiang (Li Hanxiang).
Sensual Pleasures features a collection of three, ghost story, sexual vignettes starring a viscerally sensual trio of hardcore experience with the well endowed Chen Ping, Chinese adult film legend Shirley Yu and the innocent doe-eyed Shaw Yin-yin.
Applauded director Li Han Hsiang was one of few directors who made soft porn acceptable to mainstream audiences using the thematic device of "sex on a mission" cynicism, suggesting that sex was the ultimate power. In the sex comedy "The Scandalous Warlord", the true power behind the country's many warlords was the prostitutes that these men would routinely visit. Therefore, the power in this film lies in the hands of the sassy Shirley Yu and the titillating Shaw Yin Yin.
Two stories are included in this erotic/romantic anthology. In the first, a Sung-Dynasty (10th-13th century) Buddhist monk is tricked into sexual relations with an unscrupulous female adventurer. He dies soon after with his misdeed on his conscience. In the second, the daughter of a woman who died in a brothel discovers that her mother died an unnatural death and seeks revenge.
Three inmates in an asylum tell their stories. Story 1, a husband and wife discover they should be careful what they wish for. Story 2, a naked female ghost gets revenge from her watery grave. Story 3, a dead prostitute returns as a ghost.
Helmed by the aesthetic Li Han-hsiang, The Amorous Lotus Pan features former Blue Jeans band member Shan Li-wen in a dual role as Wu Sung and Hsimen Ching. The reverse narrative tells the story of Wu Sung, who was pardoned from prison and seek the libidinous Pan Chin-lien (Huang Mei-tsing) to avenge his brother's death. The remorseful Pan recounted her pathetic life, which began when she was traded to the rich Changs as a maid. But she was raped by her master and flirted with Hsimen Ching and other gentleman callers
This dragon lady of the Ching Dynasty was the power behind the throne for 50 years, and hew vast tapestry of palace intrigues is vividly brought to the screen in this memorable epic.
Pao-yu is in love with his cousin, Lin Tai-yu, but his family has other marital plans for him that will leave both broken-hearted.
Sin Pal and Hei Sin Lam star in this erotically charged film about two women who are both driven into a life of prostitution but for very different reasons. The first story involves a husband who punishes his wife for cheating; in the other story, a teenager must escape a strange betrothal to an 8-year-old boy.
The year is 1756 and the Emperor journeys to Soochow, where he encounters a famous courtesan and gets involved with in all sorts of un-emperor-like activities.
Directed by some of most well known Chinese-language directors of the time, the portmanteau film Four Moods was an attempt to alleviate Li Han-hsiang’s financial troubles during the late 1960s. Arguably one of his best works, King Hu’s short Anger is an adaptation of the famous Peking opera San Cha Kou; set to opera instrumentation and stylishly shot, the film deftly captures the tense showdown between political schemers, avengers and vagabonds inside an inn. Li Han-hsiang’s Happiness, inspired by the Strange Tales of Liaozhai, tells a tale of reprieve for a kind-hearted ghost, while Pai Ching-Jui’s Joy and Lee Hsing’s Sadness both explore the fateful encounters between mortal men and ghostly women.
The story about royal intrigue with the ingenious Lord Liu, whose intelligence was envied by the Emperor himself.
The renowned Li Li Hua plays Wu Ze Tian, the most famous woman in China's four thousand year history.
Michael Hui plays four characters in this three-chapter, Hong Kong erotic comedy anthology set in Northern China during WWII.
This story is centering around a Ming Dynasty brothel that steams with secret erotic myths, trysts and twists of pleasurable indulgence. A shaw production