Young woman Ainu (Lily Ho) is kidnapped and sold to a brothel run by ruthless lesbian boss Lady Chun (Betty Pei Ti). Ainu’s initial protests land her in the lockup but when a sympathetic servant tries to help her flee and gets killed as a result, Ainu decides to work the system for revenge. Lady Chun had eyes for Ainu from the beginning and soon the new arrival gets on her good side to become a high-class prostitute, scoring a private room and taking swordplay lessons and trips to bed with her as needed. When the time is right, Ainu prepares to murder her four main clients and boss, all blinded by lust for the classy courtesan.
Intimate Confessions of a Chinese Courtesan caused a stir when it came out and it’s not hard to see why. Chor Yuen’s movie reworks swordplay and costume drama into an extravagant martial arts exploitation affair heightened with eroticism and violence. Shot entirely in the confines of a studio, set design is lavish throughout, with layers of screens and semi-transparent drapes occasionally softening images as they reach the camera. Slow-motion and a well-used score enhance the sensuality at all the right moments while the martial arts scenes contrast heavily as brutal, blood-soaked affairs. Lily Ho is fiery as title character Ainu, displaying radical shifts in outlook when she hits revenge mode. Betty Pei Ti, in her debut screen appearance, is outstanding as a brothel boss elegant in poise but able to kill with her bare hands. Yueh Hua puts in a fine performance as Chief Ji, a newcomer cop charged with investigating the trail of death Ainu gradually leaves behind.
Tim Youngs