Facets of Love is another saucy Shaw Brothers film. 88 Films has provided it with a stunning transfer, and it is now available on Blu-ray.
The Film
Let’s be clear about something. Facets of Love isn’t a very good film. The way the film hides its violent malicious exploitative streak under the guise of “exploration” of sex work in Ming-Dynstay Era China is as thin as the bedroom curtains that this film uses to mask nudity. That is to say, it is as cheap and transparent as a thin layer of glass.
That being said Facets of Love is a fascinating look at an era of the Shaw Brothers empire, before the branding of Cat-III (Hong Kong’s version of the X-Rating, for those not in the know). The film directed by Han Hsiang Li of The Golden Lotus infamy is the same sort of exercise is exploitation that made that film so daring though, Facets of Love is altogether less successful.
The film concerns itself with a Brothel run by a particularly evil and masochistic Madame (Ku Chiu Chin) whose ire is focused on one particular new sex slave (Ling Chiang). When she is not beating her newest sex trafficking victim, the Madame – as well as others in the brothel, regale customers with tales of an Emperor and their many wives and visits to houses of ill repute. Add in musical interludes, spirituals that that help turn narratives to the mix, and a small dollop of Jackie Chan, showing up as a waiter – and you have the film.
Oh, yeah, and a lot of female nudity. An embarrassing amount of nudity.
This film feels like it was designed for one audience and one audience only: Western Audiences. The film continually shifts its storytelling from harsh violence against women to the truly dopey, almost stupid, comedy of errors. Yes, the sets, costumes, and direction are on the level of any other Shaw Brothers production. The screenwriters even manage to place enough palace intrigue and unique storytelling that one forgets those scenes. That budget and visual style still don’t take away from the ick and grime that you’re left with after watching exploited women being whipped.
One wishes that Facets of Love had either had the strength to go down the rabbit hole of sex workers and trafficking or left it alone altogether. Either way, the film is a very arresting view of a studio that felt like it was attempting to cater to a Western Audience after the 70s boom in sex films. One cannot even call it a noble failure as it is so wantonly crass about its sexual politics.
One should look to another 88 Films release, The Golden Lotus, for a much more refined and overall better “saucy film” made by Shaw Brothers Studio at the time.
The Transfer
Regardless of what one thinks of the film, the transfer is an excellent reproduction of the filmic origins. The handsome sharp image is as clean and flawless as the day it was produced. Many will critique the grading on the transfers but what we get in return and the fidelity of the image is just too good in a way that any of the Shaw Bros Studio films have looked. Much like the similarly themed The Golden Lotus, much of the film was a stage-bound production, and the perfection of the stage lighting and photography is only more refined here in high definition. 88 Films continues its vital work of curating Asian Genre films both popular and obscure.
The Extras
They include the following;
Trailer (1:23)
Still gallery (2:01) – the gallery consists of 15 still images from the production that play automatically with the score from the film playing in the background. The gallery can be navigated by using your next and back chapter stop buttons on your remote.
The Final Thought
For those curious, Facets of Love is a fascinating look at pre-CAT-III films and the selling of exploitation to Western Audiences.
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Facets of Love is another saucy Shaw Brothers film. 88 Films has provided it with a stunning transfer, and it is now available on Blu-ray.
The Film
Let’s be clear about something. Facets of Love isn’t a very good film. The way the film hides its violent malicious exploitative streak under the guise of “exploration” of sex work in Ming-Dynstay Era China is as thin as the bedroom curtains that this film uses to mask nudity. That is to say, it is as cheap and transparent as a thin layer of glass.
That being said Facets of Love is a fascinating look at an era of the Shaw Brothers empire, before the branding of Cat-III (Hong Kong’s version of the X-Rating, for those not in the know). The film directed by Han Hsiang Li of The Golden Lotus infamy is the same sort of exercise is exploitation that made that film so daring though, Facets of Love is altogether less successful.
The film concerns itself with a Brothel run by a particularly evil and masochistic Madame (Ku Chiu Chin) whose ire is focused on one particular new sex slave (Ling Chiang). When she is not beating her newest sex trafficking victim, the Madame – as well as others in the brothel, regale customers with tales of an Emperor and their many wives and visits to houses of ill repute. Add in musical interludes, spirituals that that help turn narratives to the mix, and a small dollop of Jackie Chan, showing up as a waiter – and you have the film.
Oh, yeah, and a lot of female nudity. An embarrassing amount of nudity.
This film feels like it was designed for one audience and one audience only: Western Audiences. The film continually shifts its storytelling from harsh violence against women to the truly dopey, almost stupid, comedy of errors. Yes, the sets, costumes, and direction are on the level of any other Shaw Brothers production. The screenwriters even manage to place enough palace intrigue and unique storytelling that one forgets those scenes. That budget and visual style still don’t take away from the ick and grime that you’re left with after watching exploited women being whipped.
One wishes that Facets of Love had either had the strength to go down the rabbit hole of sex workers and trafficking or left it alone altogether. Either way, the film is a very arresting view of a studio that felt like it was attempting to cater to a Western Audience after the 70s boom in sex films. One cannot even call it a noble failure as it is so wantonly crass about its sexual politics.
One should look to another 88 Films release, The Golden Lotus, for a much more refined and overall better “saucy film” made by Shaw Brothers Studio at the time.
The Transfer
Regardless of what one thinks of the film, the transfer is an excellent reproduction of the filmic origins. The handsome sharp image is as clean and flawless as the day it was produced. Many will critique the grading on the transfers but what we get in return and the fidelity of the image is just too good in a way that any of the Shaw Bros Studio films have looked. Much like the similarly themed The Golden Lotus, much of the film was a stage-bound production, and the perfection of the stage lighting and photography is only more refined here in high definition. 88 Films continues its vital work of curating Asian Genre films both popular and obscure.
The Extras
They include the following;
Trailer (1:23)
Still gallery (2:01) – the gallery consists of 15 still images from the production that play automatically with the score from the film playing in the background. The gallery can be navigated by using your next and back chapter stop buttons on your remote.
The Final Thought
For those curious, Facets of Love is a fascinating look at pre-CAT-III films and the selling of exploitation to Western Audiences.
88 Films Blu-Ray edition of Facets of Love is out now
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