An Amorous Woman of Tang Dynasty
Scrs: Chun Tin-nam, Eddie Fong, Chiu Kang-chien
Prod Co: Shaw Brothers
Cast: Pat Ha, Alex Man, Chang Kuo-chu, Ku Feng (aka Kuk Fung), Lin Kailing
1984 / Colour / D Beta / Cantonese / Chi & Eng subtitles / 97min
A splash of poetic imagery, a surge of provocative imagination of a world and people past, this pointedly feminist erotica was Eddie Fong's directorial debut and offering to post-New Wave cinema. The meticulously crafted script, driven by a powerfully emotive story of love and loss, desire and defiance, is transcribed by astounding cinematography into a rich visual tapestry of the cultural milieu and humanscape of Tang Dynasty China. Yu Xuanji is a freethinking Taoist priestess uninhibited by oppressive environments. But her transgressions, including a destructive affair with a wandering swordsman and a dalliance with her maid, doom her to a tragic end. The narrative imparts an aura of rebellious throbbing below the rustic façade, while the union of music and camera work captures the glory of Eastern aesthetics that is distinctively late Tang.
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