Qian mian mo nu

I am a huge fan of sixties movies. If they happen to be spy films, all the better. If they happen to be from Hong Kong, best of all!

Like earlier Shaw Brothers classics, Angel With The Iron Fists and Operation Lipstick, this film features the wonderful Tina Chin-Fei in a glorious and light-hearted fighting frenzy! The plot is not Shakespeare and is just an excuse for the action and the humour which is plentiful but perhaps not always intentional.

I am disappointed by the fact that this super stylish Jane Bond film is out of print while Shaw Brothers formula kung fu films continue to have a worldwide market. The world doesn't know what it's missing. The sets, costumes and fight choreography are as dated as they are delightful.

Films like this may be considered cheap and derivative but they come from a wonderful place and time which will never be seen again and should not be forgotten.

At the Edmonton Film Festival, I caught the second screening of this hidden gem. The print was unrestored, so I was pleasantly surprised at how gorgeous it looked on the big screen in Shawscope. Beautiful bright colours and clarity.

The English Language title is "Temptress of a Thousand Faces". Directed by Cheng Chang-ho, best known for "Five Fingers of Death", this movie is not so much a martial arts movie as more of a crazy Hong Kong crime comedy. The aesthetic of the movie is very, very 60s, and I mean that in the best possible way. However, this movie might be a little too campy for some.

The story is very multi-layered, believe it or not. It's a love story and a crime story laced with themes of morality and identity crises, but the Three Stooges style comedy and ridiculous action scenes take away all pretension.

The premise: An underworld leader, who uses masks and other forms of deception, is wreaking havoc on Hong Kong and aspires for world domination. Through a series of unfortunate events, a young woman is caught up in the crimes of this "Temptress" and ends up being hunted down by both law-keepers and law-breakers. Sounds familiar, and it is, but the execution of this premise make the movie much more than just a standard episode of "Batman" with Adam West.

The chances of one getting to see this movie are quite slim, so if you do get the chance, seize it. "Temptress of a Thousand Faces" is a rare treat.

A quite fun and relaxing film to watch, you don't have to think hard to follow the plot because it's quite straightforward. The genre is mostly about action and crime, and to a lesser extent, spy. While the actions are not too strong and not too weak, the visuals are very captivating, it really captures the late 1960s popular aesthetics, lovely.

This isn't really a spy film, it's not really like that, but it does have quite a few elements, especially in the music. Of course, there is a main hero and a main villain, but unlike most spy films of the 1960s, especially those dominated by Europe, this film is female-centered. It is very interesting to see the efforts of Chi Ying (Tina Chin-Fei), a sexy police detective who is always trying to chase the Temptress (Pat Ting Hung) with her 1000 faces.

So yeah, its focus is on the heated conflict between two female leads. A bit of erotica, if I might say so, but so funny. The boyfriend of Chi Ying is indeed a good boyfriend in helping her. Another thing is about the tantalizing and labyrinthine lair of the Temptress, if you like space age you will also like this one. Very colourful and lively sets, so charming.

I have to say that this film is a low-key feministic, it casually does away with the traditional gender roles in most superhero and spy films, where most of them, especially in that era, were centered on men. Thanks to the ample comedy elements, this won't make people who watch this film get political. I like this and this is the first film where I see this kind of phenomenon.

Enjoyable okay, enjoyable. Kick, kick, kick; phew, phew, phew; kiss, kiss, kiss. I always tend to laugh when watching films like this. Its colourful 1960s aesthetic and kissing scenes were what opened my eyes. Plenty of upskirt and fetish photography but no nudity. So pleasing!

Quote from the film: "You do nothing better than looking at women's legs".