Hao qing 2

Since 2008, when The Forbidden Legend: Sex & Chopsticks was a box office hit, at least one film has been produced in Hong Kong almost every year that revives the tradition of burlesque “erotic” films or, said more precisely, films containing nudity and simulated sex, but which are definitely not erotic. But this year’s addition to the ranks of films emphasising the body in its beauty and bizarreness differs from the previous shallow hits from the workshop of genre veteran Man Kei Chin by having a slightly higher level of prestige. It represents the intersection of Chin’s carnivalesque physicality and Pang Ho Cheung’s vulgar comedies like A.V. and Vulgaria. What this film has in common with those is not only the cast featuring Chapman Toe and Josie Ho, but also the apparent reflection on the film industry and its dark corners. Instead of Pang’s sharp humour and filmmaking skill, however, what viewers get here is only a load of superficial variety-show gags and scenes revelling in the assets of imported stars of the Japanese porn industry. The best that can be said about this torture in the form of unbearably awkward jokes, wrapped in a priori unlikable ridicule of the concept of porn for women, is that it confirms the availability and popularity of Japanese porn and its actors in Hong Kong. Naked Ambition 3D parasitises on the appeal and familiarity of Japanese production, but it offers nothing beyond the superficial exploitation and legitimisation of going to the cinema for the purpose of seeing the given attractions. (01.09.2014)