Ai Nu, esclave de l'amour

This movie is much more than I expected, the 70s mainstream movie by a mainstream director has more eroticism and violence in it than most movies dared now. However, it is not a movie that simply tries to shock and push boundaries, it is a movie about injustice done to women and poor while the persecutor only care for the rich. The revenge story is restrained at first deliberately and the revenge escalates into a full blood bath at the end when Ai Nu finally let all of her fury comes out, it is easy to see the feminist movement connection.

I also thought the cinematography is beautiful, especially at the beginning when camera captures the slow dance of Ai Nu in contrast to the corpse covered by snow.

The fight scene is also rather good. In other words, a perfect 10/10.

This film essentially begins with a young woman by the name of "Ainu" (Lilly Ho) being kidnapped by slave merchants and taken to a brothel owned and operated by a beautiful but extremely evil woman named "Lady Chun" (Betty Pei Ti). Although Ainu tries to escape and does everything in her power to resist she eventually is auctioned off to four men in particular who each take their turn raping her one day after another before returning her back to Lady Chun. However, after these ordeals are finished she not only gains the respect of Lady Chun but subsequently wins her affection as well. Yet in spite of her elevated status, Ainu still nurtures a hatred in her heart for those four men and as a result she patiently waits for the right time to gain her revenge. Now rather than reveal any more I will just say that, although I would have preferred a bit more depth and intrigue, this still turned out to be an entertaining martial arts movie for the most part. Likewise, it certainly didn't hurt to have two beautiful actresses like the aforementioned Lilly Ho and Betty Pei Ti. Be that as it may, while I don't consider this to be a great martial arts film by any means, it was certainly good enough for the time spent and for that reason I have rated it accordingly. Slightly above average.

A woman named Ainu is kidnapped and sold to a brothel. She tries to resist & escape but fails being caught immediately. Given the choice between dying or accepting her position in the brothel she chooses the latter. Soon after is rented to four wealthy clients and secretly vows revenge. Also becoming the lover of the brothel's lesbian Madame.

There is several scenes of martial arts action. Something Shaw Brothers were well known for. Included is a little blood, of course a bright red color, another thing the Shaws were known for. But wait, there's more. The storyline is still the main focus. It's an interesting story on its own. Throw in a little minor nudity as well.

From beginning to end is a strong script. The action for the most part is well choreographed. The acting is good to excellent. This is one of the most well known Hong Kong films of its type. A true classic.

Overall, this is a pretty good Wuxia story, with a brothel context and revenge story at its centre. The original Hong Kong title is more honest - if less salacious-sounding - and, apart from some appropriate toplessness towards the beginning and end, there's not much titillation. It is of course wildly patriarchal and sexist but presumably that's supposed to be a historical given?

Meanwhile, I'm not an expert in the genre but, for me, the action scenes aren't really a patch on fare such as House of Flying Daggers or (my favourite) Hero. This predates both by quite a while, of course.

Worth a watch if you like this kind of thing, but I'm not sure I'd recommend it.

Absolutely marvellous Shaw brothers classic. Definitely strong influence on Kill Bill. I watched the dubbed version which seemed OK. Art direction terrific. The ending is an over the top bloodbath









Fantastic