 This
sort of soft porn movies breaks some obscure records at the local box office because of a
bunch of funny old men gathered in theatres to feast their eyes. Then they are widely
pirated, in order to let the whole family enjoy the show. Such thing was actually common in the seventies in France,
when Histoire d'O (Story of O), Emmanuelle and her sisters used to
hit the screen. However, I cannot imagine nowadays that an erotic underground movie could
reach eighth at the French box office between Independence Day and Amélie
Poulain from Montmartre! Actually the modern western erotic cinema is still very
present in theatres, but has changed. It is also made by notorious filmmakers and with
famous actors and actresses. Basic Instinct and Sliver are good examples. Let's cut the crap and come back to THE erotic Chinese flick, a sort of 'Chinese sex story'… When I say flute, horse, Tarzan, guillotine, or mad patrician, does it ring your bell? … Sex and Zen of course! You'll find indeed all these elements in this movie, the only erotic movie where the main character has a horse willie, where people makes love à la Tarzan, where flutes are not only used to make music… What a great deal of ideas, that could only come from HK. This movie is a real feast for your eyes, sometimes a bit cheesy but full of humour and sensuality.  Sex and Zen is probably one of the most prestigious erotic
movie from the ex-colony. It was produced by one of the biggest HK film production firm
(Golden Harvest), which had produced most of Jackie Chan's movies, the A Chinese Ghost
Story series and so forth. Johnny Mak, mostly known for its gangsters flicks (Long
Arm Of The Law, To Be Number One) co-produced it and let his brother Michael
direct it. Michael Mak, also known as Poon Man Kit, isn't a new boy since he directed also
Shanghai Grand, To Be Number One and Long Arm Of The Law 2 & 3.
 Even the casting is of first class since you can see Maggie Cheung
and Charlie Young playing together, Joey Wang and Anita Mui blowing flutes and Chow Yun
Fat impersonating Rocco Siffredi… Oups, I made a mistake…! All this was only one
of my soft dreams. In fact the stars in Sex and Zen are less famous but still very
prestigious. They are: Amy -big boobs- Yip (seen in China Dolls, Easy Money, To Be
Number One and she is probably a sister of Veronica, Cecilia, Sally and Grace), Carry
Ng (Naked Killer, City On Fire), and Isabella Chow… And there are much more
beauties to feast your eyes with in the final. The guys are good as well, with a few guest
stars such as the rotund and charismatic Ken Cheng (Once Upon A Time In China, Crime
Story, Run & Kill…), the great Elvis Tsui Kam Kong, (a master of Category 3,
a stakhanovite of erotic movies and the father of Charlie Young in Tsui Hark's The
Lovers), plus Lawrence Ng, the drug-and-girls addict from To Be Number One. But
what about the story?
Here's the
story: In ancient China, virility was a sign of power. If a master came to find out that
his domestic staff has a longer member than him, he could get ballistic and be willing to
alter what Mother Nature granted the man… That what happened to a scholar (Lawrence
Ng), unfortunately injured between his legs by his master. Feeling regretful, the master
brought him to mad sexologist and healer Ken Cheng.  His remedy was to transplant the poor thing a horse prick, which
may reach a length of 0.5 meter (i.e. 20 inches) when skilfully manipulated. The boss was
obviously partisan of the mini-guillotine method for the amputation and the thunder was
compulsory for the patrician to be in the mood and to get the delicate surgical
manipulation done. Eventually repaired and ready to hit the sack, Ng could satisfy his
wife, but other ladies as well who wouldn't resist to the animal.
Sex ad Zen is an accumulation of kinky and creative sequences, more or less funny but never vulgar (no sex is even shown). For instance, Elvis Tsui shags his partner suspending by a chain by two meters high. There is also this scene where two ladies love each other back to back with a music instrument. There is a clever and original use of a ladder, and a final boys-and-girls gathering where the royal etiquette isn't respected….
Freely translated and updated by Thomas, July 2002
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Sex and Zen had its success in HK, and even in France where it was
screened at the late Fantastic Film Festival of Avoriaz in 1994. Two sequels were made but
hardly reached the creativity and appeal of the first installment. Go on, have a look at
this peculiar movie that tells a story before showing (but still show stuff…). It's
not everyday that the Chinese sensuality is revealed before your eyes…!