This is another move adaptation of a classic Chinese literature - this time one of two most well known erotic literature in Chinese history.
Written in 1657, the Chinese name 肉蒲團 translates to "The Carnal Prayer Mat" is so titled because the book starts with protagonist speaking to the most esteemed Buddhist Priest of his time concerning the pursuit of happiness - the protagonist states that he would "pray" upon the carnal bodies of the worlds most beautiful woman and explore the boundaries of sexual ecstacy and singing of his own beauty and brilliance. With the priest warning him of karma as almost a prophecy - with it all ending as the priest said it would.
Well...at least that's what the book was about and I for one have actually read most of it - it was pretty heavy reading and my Classical Chinese is limited even at the best of times. The movie, premiered in mainstream movie theaters in 3D and was advertised as an arts film and created a huge stir over in the Asian Pacific when it was released. One of my co-workers had the 2D version on his computer and I was more than keen to know what all the fuss was about.
For the most part the movie was a softcore porn movie labelled as an arts film. Hell 3 of the lead actresses were premium Japanese Adult Entertainment Idols. So there were plenty of groaning, moaning and exaggerated expressions of climax...you will know what I'm talking about if you've seen Japanese AV. Best part about hiring them? They don't even really say much in Chinese in the movie either than making noises anyway. But with that being said, the acting wasn't half bad and there were plenty of comedic moments that wouldn't have been out of place in The Hangover movies.
The storyline was so drastically changed that it was hard to continue to use the original book title. For starters the protagonist in the movie wasn't a complete amoral son of a bitch - just a horny son of a bitch. He had good intentions and was tempted by the "Carnal Prayer Mat". Instead of surgically attaching a dogs penis to the protagonist they attached a donkey's, instead of just having affairs they had orgies, instead of a couple of woman the movie had a platoon. In the book he became a disciple of the Buddhist priest after his world collapsed around him, the movie ending was a bit more extreme but was somewhat of happy ending...in a rather extreme way that only a porn movie can.
The cinematography was quite good and one can see that they hired some of the best crew...though sometimes I wonder if they hired the best crew from the adult entertainment business as well. The costumes was wonderfully done and they even had time to include some Chinese martial arts elements in it to just add that extra Chinese/Hong Kong movie touch to it.
Overall I did enjoy it - though I'm not sure as a porno or as a movie. Should you watch it? If you're a guy it's not like you need much of an excuse to watch a porno. If you're a girl like my housemate who had to sit through 2 hours of this movie with me? Probably not.
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