Still as controversial today as it was when it was initially released, the all-time classic of Asian erotica Sex and Zen comes to you on DVD like never before, this time presented in a new eye-popping Ultra-Bit transfer and featuring extended extra footage that further pushes the limits of what is permissible in an 18 certificate movie.
Based on China's most notorious erotic saga, Li Yu's "The Carnal Prayer Mat" - written during the Ming Dynasty era and subsequently banned for 400 years - director Michael Mak's exquisitely shot film adaptation Sex and Zen more than lives up to the reputation of its source material. Li Yu's novel sought to amuse and titillate, while at the same time mixing scholarly discourse with moral dilemmas. Shrewdly choosing to focus much more on the carnal and humorous aspects of the tale, Mak delivers a deliciously entertaining and sumptuously presented sex romp that is both funny and arousing and, most importantly, packed from start to finish with extremely graphic, elaborate and highly creative sexual encounters involving some of Asian cinema's most beautiful actresses, including Amy Yip, Japanese porn star Mari Ayukawa and softcore starlet Rena Murakami.

The story concerns the libidinous exploits of Mei Yeung-sheng (Lawrence Ng), a scholar who, despite being recently married to the beautiful and sexually adventurous Huk-yeung (Amy Yip), decides he needs to debauch as many women as he possibly can. However, after embarking on his sexual odyssey he very quickly discovers his prowess in the boudoir is somewhat lacking and, believing size is everything, undergoes a remarkably advanced transplant operation that quite literally leaves him hung like a horse! Meanwhile, in his absence, after experimenting with and perfecting a unique calligraphic technique his bride has been forced to enter a brothel to work as a prostitute. It is here, after each has experienced a lengthy list of lewd liaisons, that Mei and Huk-yeung are reunited just in time for Mei to learn a valuable lesson.

Credited with showcasing unexpected dimensions in Hong Kong filmmaking and doing for eroticism what kung fu movies had done for the action genre, Sex and Zen unashamedly put the fun back into porn in a way that appealed to both male and female audiences. Renowned as much for its open and lighthearted approach to explicit sex scenes as for its hilarious "Donkey Dong" transplant sequence, the film is also notable for graphically (and controversially) introducing filmgoers to a rather unconventional use of a flute long before American Pie revived the practice in a far less vivid way.

Sex and Zen (cert. 18) will be released on DVD by Hong Kong Legends on 16th April 2007. Special Features include: "A Lot Of Sex, A Little Zen" – notes by Stefan Hammond (co-author of "Sex and Zen and a Bullet in the Head – the Essential Guide to Hong Kong's Mind-bending Films"); Cantonese 5.1, English 5.1 and original Cantonese mono audio options; optional English subtitles; scene selection; further attractions.

Buy it: amazon.co.uk