Tweet
Released by: 88 Films
Released on: September 10th, 2024.
Director: Li Han-Hsiang
Cast: Lily Ho Li-Li, Yueh Hua, Hu Chin, Theresa Ha Ping, Jackie Chan
Year: 1973
Purchase From Amazon
Facets Of Love – Movie Review:
Written and directed for Shaw Brothers by Li Han-Hsiang and released theatrically in its native Hong Kong in April of 1973, Facets Of Love, also known as Northern Ladies Of China, is an anthology film set in the 1900s centered around a brothel.
The film starts with a story centered around a prostitute named Da-Qin (Yu Feng) and her conflict with the brothel's owner, Miss Ho (Lily Ho Li-Li). Da-Qin has been sold to the brother but resists when and where she can but Miss Ho doesn't take kindly to this young upstart and soon implements some torture tactics to get her in line.
From here, we see what happens when Emperor Zheng-De (Yueh Hua) visits the brothel for the first time and learns first hand all about the pleasures contained therein. Lastly, in the final story, an older Emperor (Wong Yu) falls for a gorgeous young prostitute and, in order to be with her, uses his power and status to inhabit the body of a younger soldier.
Tonally uneven but gorgeous to look at, Facets Of Love is an odd entry in the Shaw Brothers catalogue, part sexploitation picture and part arthouse drama. Somewhat famous for featuring a bit part for a young Jackie Chan (this is one of a few Shaw Brothers films he had small roles in during this period of his career, a few short years before Golden Harvest would sign him and turn him into the biggest star on the planet), it’s fairly quick in its pacing but it shifts from a story about sexual torture to a story that’s basically a sex comedy and then to a story wherein the supernatural and the sexual combine into something all together bizarre.
Still, despite the fairly rocky tonal shifts, the movie features some pretty lavish production values. The typical Shaw Brothers back lot sets have never looked more colorful than they do here and the effort that went into capturing the period detail in the sets and the costume work is noteworthy right from the start of the film. The cinematography from Lin Hua-Zhao, who doesn’t seem to be credited with any other feature film work, is excellent, with the camera moving in on certain characters at just the right time, specifically to emphasize those characters’ experiences and arcs as their respective stories unfold. Shadowy interiors are explored, which adds mood and atmosphere to the proceedings, but again, it’s how effectively the camerawork captures the film’s gorgeous color scheme that really stands out.
Performances are solid across the board. The beautiful Lily Ho Li-Li is in fine form as the sadistic madam in charge of the brothel and her conflict with Taiwanese-born actress Yu Feng, who cuts quite an alluring figure in this film, is handled very well thanks to the acting quality delivered by the two starlets. The always dependable Yueh Hua, who starred in scores of movies for Shaw Brothers in the sixties and seventies, is as good as ever here while Wong Yu is interesting to watch as the aging Emperor in the final story.
Facets Of Love – Blu-ray Review:
88 Films brings Facets Of Love to Blu-ray framed in 2.35.1 widescreen in AVC encoded 1080p high definition taking up 25GBs of space on a 50GB disc using an “HD transfer from the original negative.” Colors are reproduced quite nicely, looking bright and bold without appearing oversaturated or artificially boosted and black levels are good. Skin tones look nice and natural in terms of colors, but like a lot of Shaw Brothers transfers, sometimes they do look just a little bit waxy and there are some spots where the image is a tad bit soft. There aren’t any problems with noticeable compression artifacts or edge enhancement and the image stable and very clean, showing no real print damage, dirt or debris. Overall, this looks pretty good.
A 24-bit LPCM 2.0 Mono option is provided in Mandarin with English Subtitles. There’s a tiny bit of sibilance in a few spots but otherwise the audio is fine. The score sounds pretty decent and there are no issues with any hiss or distortion.
Extras on the disc itself are limited to a still gallery, a trailer for the feature, menus and chapter selection options. That said, this release comes packaged with a slipcover, some reversible cover sleeve art (featuring newly created art on one side and the original one-sheet art on the reverse) and, tucked away inside the clear Blu-ray keepcase, a selection of four postcard-sized art cards.
Facets Of Love - The Final Word:
Facets Of Love is an interesting and unique entry in the Shaw Brothers’ massive catalogue and, even if it isn’t a perfect film, it offers up enough sex, sadism and intrigue to hold viewers’ attention without any trouble. The Blu-ray release from 88 Films is light on extra features but the presentation is a nice one. Recommended for fans of the legendary studios’ more off-kilter output.