The world's first 3-D soft-porn movie got its first private screening at a Causeway Bay cinema yesterday and left the audience more in awe of the Cantonese dialect's ability to shock than the outlandish 3-D sex effects.
The Hong Kong-made Sex and Zen: Extreme Ecstasy made its big-screen debut at JP cinema for film buyers and exhibitors in the city for the four-day Filmart which closes today - and most of the audience left laughing at the HK$25 million production's colourful use of language rather than its widely anticipated scenes of over-the-top erotica.
Director Christopher Sun Lap-key's pre-screening contention that the crew had spent a long time working on the story-telling appeared to be borne out, as the dramatic and comical effects in 3-D Sex and Zen had the audience in stitches.
Loosely based on a piece from classical Chinese erotic literature, The Carnal Prayar Mat written by Li Yu in the 17th century, the 3-D version is a rework of the 1991 erotic cult sensation Sex and Zen, by veteran producer Stephen Shiu Yeuk-yuen.
Like the original film, the 3-D remake, a brainchild of Shiu's son Stephen Shiu Jnr, also follows the outrageous adventure of scholar Wei Yangsheng (Hiro Hayama) who is searching for the secrets to the joys of the bedroom.
The plot, such as it is, revolves around Wei's search for sexual pleasure, and predictably uses the 3-D format to full smutty effect. The end result was some impressively-lit shots of actors who had clearly put their all into filming. However, what impressed the audience most were the dirty jokes and vivid use of Cantonese swear words. It was not hard to hear voices from the audience swearing along happily with the characters.