DVD Review : Intimate Confessions of a Chinese Courtesian

Wow. Every once in awhile I find a real gem on this Blog. It's times like these that make my job reviewing all the bad DVD's totally worth it. That gem of a film is called "Intimate Confessions of a Chinese Courtesan." Marketed as another sexy kung-fu movie from the 70's it's a lot more than that. It's a Shaw Brothers classic. I had never heard of them before this and now that I am re-discovering my love of classic kung-fu films I feel like an idiot for not knowing them. Anyway this is one of their classics. It's the story of a young rebellious Ai Nu who is abducted and sold off to the Four Seasons brothel. While there the lusty lesbian madam (the gorgeous Lily Ho) who runs the joint falls for Ai Nu and starts to teach her some deadly kung-fu moves. All the while not realizing that Ai Nu is just using her to plot her revenge on her captors and the madam running the brothel. ON top of that their is another sub-plot involving the dedicated Chinese police captain trying to solve a series of murders that Ai Nu is involved in. Pretty ground-breaking for a 1970's kung-fu film.



I was suprised at the level of acting in this movie as well as the cinematography. Lots of long wide shots showing you action with things frequently coming at the camera and hitting the lens. Very stylish and the opposite of most of the garbage you see in 80's karate movies. This movie reminding me a lot of Kill Bill. So much so I might say this is was Quentin was inspired for by the plot of Kill Bill but I am sure some film nerd out there will correct me.

I can't fault this film for not having behind the scenes footage as it was shot in the 70's and, in fact, it does have a really good Featurtte with interviews from all 3 shaw girls. Good stuff and you can find the first 10 minutes of that on our YouTube account.

All in all I give this movie a A. Hey Image Entertainment, keep the Shaw Brothers stuff coming! Have you got any others I should be watching readers?