Reviewed by: pjshimmer Date: 09/29/2005 One of the most provocative Shaw Brothers offerings. Not for everyone but perfect for me.

Reviewed by: Sydneyguy Date: 02/06/2005 Summary: Agree with STSH Plotless movie looking at a woman who envies freedom but is not a man!! Few sex scenes and fight scenes which was directed by a 10 year old kid, there is nothing to recommend here and many will hate the ending like i did!! Alex man is only in half the movie 3/10

Reviewed by: MrBooth Date: 10/12/2004 Summary: DVD missing nearly half the film? *** AN AMOROUS WOMAN OF TANG DYNASTY: Apparently the full version of this film is near 3 hours long, but the Celestial dvd presents us with a 97 minute cut - which presumably explains why the plot seems to leap tall buildings between scenes and lack a certain amount of coherency. It seems to be a rather feminist tale dressed in lots of female nudity, a paradox that puts it in the company of INTIMATE CONFESSIONS OF A CHINESE COURTESAN, with which it also shares some lucious set design and cinematography. The film actually looks, sounds and feels more like a japanese film than a HK film in many places. I wish Celestial had managed to dig up the full length cut, as there's no doubt the film loses a lot from being so severely shortened. It's probably an excellent film in its full length. The Celestial DVD also has disappointing picture quality - lots of grain and some distracting brightness fluctuations in some scenes. They probably figured people only wanted to see it for the nudity anyway... Reviewer Score: 6

Reviewed by: STSH Date: 01/09/2000 Excrutiatingly dull and slow, on par with Temptation Of A Monk. True, the photography and look is wonderful. There are sex/nude scenes, but they are brutal and far from erotic. There are many quick scene changes, which play havoc with any continuity the story may have had. Don't bother ! Reviewer Score: 2

Reviewed by: hkcinema Date: 12/21/1999 The debut of director Fong Ling-Ching, who went on to make LASTPRINCESS OF MANCHURIA and PRIVATE-EYE BLUES. It is a breathtakingly beautiful and well-acted historical feminist film, with Pat Ha Min-Chi playing a Chinese courtesan who wants to break free from the chains of social convention and pursue a financially and emotionally independent lifestyle. Ha Min-Chi, a sadly underrated actress, gives a strong and carefully shaded performance, and the supporting cast is excellent. The film has the quiet dignity and visual beauty that many Ozu films have, but unlike them, it's not boring. A note to the peeping toms: while the movie has a fair amount of nudity, it is not a sex film. Devotees of C3 "entertainment" should thus stay away, but for all others, it's a must-see. [Reviewed by Thomas Muething]