Quenchless Desire

Quenchless Desire (1993)

06 May 1993 • Romance, Thriller • 1h 32m
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A significant difference between the Cinema of Eroticism genre and softcore pornographic films is plainly that, in the case of the former, acts of lovemaking enhance the narrative, while with softcore porn a plot, if there is one, is halted in its flow to permit sequences of fervent thrashing about, and this latter is the case for this film, with a result that a viewer is ultimately left with an impression depicting a collage of body parts receiving doting regard from ardent admirers. This is a highly predicable work, plainly inspired by Adrian Lyne's FATAL ATTRACTION, but deviating from that piece in two vital areas: unlike its pattern, it seems to have no point of view other than the mentioned, and tedious, episodes of libidinous goings-on; general production values, including screenplay, acting, camera-work, editing and direction are all substandard, even for the laggardly norms established by Hong Kong's febrile cinema factories. Sammy Cheung plays as Liu Yun Pei, a somewhat staid and contentedly married man who operates a Saab automobile sales dealership in Hong Kong (although he drives only a Mercedes in the film), in partnership with "Sunny" (Man Gui Hoh), a habitual seducer of women who retains the lower undergarments of his conquests within his briefcase, much to the disdain of Pei although, when the latter's wife Winnie (Kingdom Yuen) travels to Kuala Lumpur for a week to celebrate a wedding, Pei meets alluring Chi Ling Wu (Wong Wing-Fong) at a business related function soon after which she, with force, debauches him, subsequently refusing to terminate their relationship upon Winnie's return. We are shown, and supposedly meant to accept, that Chi Ling, for keeping Pei to herself, attaches a garish male chastity belt to her lover's groin as he sleeps, an item made of titanium and, as Pei learns, unremovable without use of a key held by Chi Ling. In this melodrama that makes little sense, and that fails to deliver obviously intended thrills, Chi Ling befriends an unsuspecting Winnie, kidnaps the young daughter of her married victims and, by and large, makes a complete nuisance of herself. An out-of-print DVD version of this foolishness is of the full screen variety, and provides a fine perspective of frontal nudity, including breast implants for those intrigued by such, and Dolby digital surround sound is as smoothly processed as shall be expected, with a collection of sensuous aural ingredients (panting, moaning, grunting, groaning, etc.) in place for a viewer's ancillary listening pleasure. The original soundtrack with Cantonese dialogue is not harmonized well into Mandarin, although English language subtitles do offer a welcome shift for a viewer's attention into bemusement and away from the film's banal plot line.

Dai-Pang Tin
Director
Raymond Si
Writer
Yee-Ha Lee, Man Gui Hoh, Yeong Fang Usang
Starring

Language: Cantonese, Mandarin
Awards:
Country: Hong Kong
Metacritic Score:
DVD Release Date:
Box Office Total:

5.7

IMDb (25 votes)
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