Verdict
Summary
Part erotic romance, and part dreary melodrama with hearty doses of kinky torture and eye-popping nudity, Facets of Love is a Shaw Brothers film without any action, but plenty of hard “R”-rated sex and bare skin to satiate the sort of fan it’s catering to. It’s not exactly a “fun” watch, but it’s interesting and never really boring, so it gets points for appealing to the demographic it targets.
Plot:
Life around a Chinese brothel, told in several stories.
Review:
A brothel in Shanghai seems to be the hub of all things intriguing and horrible in the early years of the 20th century. A cunning and flirty young madam (played by Hu Chin) takes over from the previous madam, and she is wise and lethal in her dealings with incoming girls, the corrupt agents who work for her at procuring fresh slaves to work against their will, and with all of the government employees who constantly raid her place to make sure all of her employees – even the ignorant and selfless newbies who don’t know how anything is supposed to work – are paying their fair share of taxes. Any of the girls who even think of refusing to work or don’t pay into their slavery contracts are mercilessly tortured by being tied up, whipped, and branded, and that’s not to mention the constant degradations of their daily rapes they must endure by all the sleazy men who come into the joint. In one instance, the young and handsome emperor (“Lord of Lords” as he calls himself) makes a private and secret visit to the brothel, and the most comely young courtesan is smuggled into his room bundled in a rug, and she’s offered to him as a gift, but the horny emperor ends up choosing another girl instead. The emperor’s safety is put at risk when it is revealed that he’s visiting the brothel. Later, in another story, some ghosts who frequented the brothel possess a soldier who is visiting the establishment. In that story, a waiter (played by a very young Jackie Chan) with all the “poop” on the comings and goings of everyone gets to witness the intrigue of all that goes on around him, spilling the beans to spies who want nothing more than to see the ruination of the brothel.
Part erotic romance, and part dreary melodrama with hearty doses of kinky torture and eye-popping nudity (there’s even a big breasted western girl whom we see pleasuring a randy client), Facets of Love is a Shaw Brothers film without any action, but plenty of hard “R”-rated sex and bare skin to satiate the sort of fan it’s catering to. It’s not exactly a “fun” watch, but it’s interesting and never really boring, so it gets points for appealing to the demographic it targets. From writer / director Li-Han-Hsiang.
88 Films has just released a premium Blu-ray edition of Facets of Love. The limited edition comes with a set of photo cards, a slipcover, a reversible sleeve, and a stills gallery. The presentation itself is solid and should hold up well in high definition on the best TVs available.
