Forbidden Tales of Two Cities

The noted actress Li Li-hua, star of more than sixty films since 1947, beautifully portrays the drugged, then disgraced wife of a peddler in the waning days of the Ching Dynasty. To make matters worse, she’s soon framed for her husband’s murder by her rapist - the son of the local magistrate! And even that isn’t the end of her woes. It’s best to have a box of tissues nearby as two expert directors ratchet up the emotional suspense in this consummate tearjerker.

An old man of the village tells kinky ghost stories to a few of it's inhabitants after all the kids have gone to bed. What follows are stories that have horror elements and some soft-core nudity thrown in.

Emperor Chien Lung uses disguises to experience life among his subjects.

TIGER KILLER (1982) is a straightforward adaptation of one story from the sprawling Chinese literary epic, "The Water Margin." It tells the tale of Wu Song, who slays a man-eating tiger preying on farmers and villagers and becomes the hero of the province, getting appointed as a constable by the local magistrate. He is reunited with his older brother, the short, disfigured Wu the Elder, a peddler of buns, who invites Wu Song to move in with him and his new wife. The wife, Golden Lotus, is an attractive young former maid who had been forced to marry Wu the Elder as punishment for getting caught in bed with her master by the master's wife. She takes a liking to the handsome, strong Wu Song, who rebuffs her attempts to seduce him. When Wu Song is sent on a long journey, the wife begins an affair with a rich local merchant. When Wu Song returns from his mission, he is met with shocking news which sets off a series of violent acts of retribution.

This story is centering around a Ming Dynasty brothel that steams with secret erotic myths, trysts and twists of pleasurable indulgence. A shaw production

In the 18th century, Emperor Chien Lung makes a journey into Southern China.

Golden Lotus is based, in part, on Jin Ping Mei, a famous erotic novel of ancient China. Li Han-Hsiang adapted part of the story into this film, which starts with Hsi Men Ching, a successful merchant, wooing Pan Chin Lien, the beautiful wife of one of the townspeople.

The year is 1756 and the Emperor journeys to Soochow, where he encounters a famous courtesan and gets involved with in all sorts of un-emperor-like activities.

Directed by some of most well known Chinese-language directors of the time, the portmanteau film Four Moods was an attempt to alleviate Li Han-hsiang’s financial troubles during the late 1960s. Arguably one of his best works, King Hu’s short Anger is an adaptation of the famous Peking opera San Cha Kou; set to opera instrumentation and stylishly shot, the film deftly captures the tense showdown between political schemers, avengers and vagabonds inside an inn. Li Han-hsiang’s Happiness, inspired by the Strange Tales of Liaozhai, tells a tale of reprieve for a kind-hearted ghost, while Pai Ching-Jui’s Joy and Lee Hsing’s Sadness both explore the fateful encounters between mortal men and ghostly women.

A corrupt local official, Xi Men Qing, who lusts after women and money, pursues his brother's young wife, Lee Ping Er. Ping finds Men attractive, and under her drunken husband's nose, she and Men work their way through the illustrations of a pillow book, the "Golden Lotus." Men pursues the same feat with his fourth concubine, Pan Jing Lien, who lives in the compound next to Ping. Jing's jealousy compounds a tale of humiliation, childbirth, death, and depravity. Does karma or enlightenment await anyone?

Han Hsiang Li's lush epic re-creates the fascinating life and times of Tzu Hsi, the Manchu Qing dynasty empress who rose from the ranks of Emperor Xianfeng's many concubines to become the de facto ruler of China for nearly 50 years.

Dramatization of events from the Second Opium War which culminated in the looting and destruction of imperial estate "Yuan Ming Yuan", AKA the Old Summer Palace by invading English and French troops.

The movie is about an illegal salt smuggling ring run by Tanny and her male partner, who spend most of the movie arguing which one of them is going to sacrifice him/herself and surrender to the police.

No list of the screen's comic geniuses would be complete without Michael Hui Kwun-man. He created a hilarious and lovable comic persona that was both uniquely Asian but also universally beloved. This, his first film, not only showcased his incomparable sense of humor but revolutionized Hong Kong comedy. Evoking Chaplin, he plays a warlord in early 20th Century China, but makes the role his own with both laughs and some of the sexiest ladies on the Shaw Brothers lot.

Despite Kuang Hsu's enthronement as the last reigning Emperor of China, his ability to rule effectively is overshadowed by the ever-present power of the Dowager Empress.

Arguably the funniest of the four famous Hui brothers, Michael has a tour-de-force vehicle in this naughty little comedy playing four different characters, each one in a compromising situation. And the laughs do come big and hearty as Hui bounces his cheeky humour off a terrific large supporting cast including the sophisticated Hu-chin and the lovely Pai Hsiao-man. Keeping the Benny Hill-style hi-jinks afloat is stalwart Shaw director Li han-hsiang who manages to switch flawlessly between these cheeky flings and his period epics.