Customer Reviews

Temptation of a Monk

5 star:		(4)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(3)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

Rather than engage in the back and forth of these reviews, permit me to offer one slightly different observation.

When the abbot monk is asked how he lived to be over 100, he said "I eat at the time to eat, and sleep at the time to sleep."

Later, a woman had appeared and requested to become a nun. The hero, a former warlord who was hiding from his past, shaved her head, and in doing so, became aroused.

One night, she crept into his bed chamber and said "You are not a monk". She mentioned the way he carressed her when he shaved her head, his strong shoulders, etc. Inevitabley, nature took its course. After they tickled each other's fancy, she gently and seductively tied his wrists with a piece of leather, stradled him, and introduced herself as the widow of another warlord whom he had killed. She then started biting him on the jugular vein. Our hero struggled to be free, to no avail.

Suddenly, the old monk appeared out of nowhere, did some kind fo kung fu move with his walking stick, and killed the woman by striking her at the base of her skull. Our hero lay there, amazed and shocked. The old monk shook his head and walked away, muttering "No sleep at the time to sleep."

Let's be honest; could an American have come up with this?

Joan Chen is marvelous in this feature. A delight for both the eyes and the heart. This movie is filled with beautiful sights and sounds, a wonderful script, and superb acting. END

I really loved this movie. Perhaps it does owe a debt to Kurosawa's 'Ran', but is it a crime for a developing director to emulate the master? Sara Law is a superb director in her own right - she has a faultless eye, a deft wit and produces sensational erotic scenes. I am thankful we can count her as an Aussie and look forward to a great many more beautiful movies from her like 'Temptation of a Monk'.

First let me say that I like this film. It's beautiful with a intriguing story.

With that out of the way let me again point out that Fox/Lorber has again put out a poor DVD edition of another film. The subtitles are on the film and very big. I guess I shouldn't complain as you can read them, unlike most of Fox/Lorber films.

This is in Full Screen. I wish someone could explain to me how Fox/Lorber can call their movies widescreen with they are full frame? Someone should call them on this fact as they repeatedly call their movies widescreen that are obviously full screen.

The video is decent as is the audio. All I can say is that it's watchable and doesn't take too much away from the original. But again it's just a poor transfer.

Oh well...if you are like me and really want to see this film it is probably the only version that will come out. But if not...there are plenty of Criterion and Anchor Bay DVDs to mention a couple.

this movie has got to be one of the greatest stories of all times, if you can understand it. you need to understand the asian culture in order to truly grasp what's going on as joan chen acts two roles. it has no relevance on the story, it's just this woman trying to kill the hero-the 19th princess is already dead. it is the monk being tempted which is obviously the core of the movie-where our hero has forsaken revenge for introspection. it is only after he is pushed to the furthest point of endurance where he fights back, and even then unwillingly. it is this self-control that most US viewers have a hard time comprehending, but one sees that the hero's opponent's lack of self-control is what makes him lose in the end, a modern fable this is

"Temptation of a Monk" is one title in my prized collections, along
with "Brazil", "Das Boot", "Fisher King", and "Wallace and Grommet"...

The movie takes us on a transformational journey with the protagonist General. Though he commands the fate of hundreds of thousands of people, and even the fate of nations, he was caught helplessly in a turmoil caused by royal sibling rivlary, where the prize of wrong alliance is death. After the coup, his subordinate saught the General's death to avenge the betrayed, now dead prince. His mother then denouced his failure to protect the dead prince, and thus tarnished the family reputation as loyal subjects. She expressed her denouncement through suicide, which the General witnessed. He soon became a fugitive general pursued by the newly enthroned king because he failed to submit to the new king.

In his fugitive runs, the general slid down a slipery slope of decadence, conveyed through brothel indulgence. He tried to run from one crisis to the next, but confronted death of people around him wherever he turned. He struggled with all his might, but to no avail in his salvation.

In his last ditch escape, he saught refuge in a desolate monistery where the essence of life was revealed in simple words by an unassuming monk in ragged cloths, with unshaven head. The General calms and attains peace as his internal conflicts are resolved through seemingly mondane day to day interactions with the Zen master.

The thematic development is brilliant, where the chaotic conflicts between
multiple interests and constant tensions are released anti-climatically at the end. Taking their place are seemingly casual conversations woven into daily life, whose wisdom brought the past turmoil into proper perspective and closure. The simple yet profound messages, often subtly hillarious, are as relevant to modern hectic life style as ever.

Don't take my word for it. See it for yourself.
Many may be disappointed, but may you be the few who find jewels in this classic.

This was a highly underrated film.. probably best appreciated along it's themes of buddhism and eroticism and it's backdrop of tang dynasty china

Foreign films are soooo.... Foreign. And TOAM is not an exception. Do to the many excellent reviews already given the story has already been given away several times-so I won't feel bad if my contribution gives away the story some more. This movie is a buddhist love story. There is Violet the 19th princess who has this eccentric relationship with the hero. However, she dies. Many are tricked into thinking she returns later as the dead general's wife. Her purpose is to Tempt the monk with SEX which she does well. It's in the final scene that Violet makes her reappearance as the pony that the monk rides off on (into the sunset :) satisfying her destiny to be his companion while complementing his monkhood which she was unable to do after his conversion. Recall that the Monk was a general much given to womanizing and gaming hence he had no use for such a fierce knife. It is obvious in the scene where violet encounters the hunting generals that a relationship already existed between the Tang-y princess and the jovial general ;)

The complexity of this movie becomes evident after about the 19th viewing - This is a great movie.

Why am I so harsh on this film? This 1993 effort is virtually a rip-off of the kind of highly stylized epics that characterized Akira Kurosawa's films of the 1980's. Specifically it is too similar to the 1985 Ran in terms of script, style, and even the costumes and sets.

Other than being a totally inferior and embarrassing attempt to emulate the master, it is also guilty of historical inaccuracy (if it's a fantasy that why not go all the way - why the pretentious tone of a historical epic which it is not?!), exoticism (*all* the women in the film and even the men in the brothel), glorification of violence (whose sensual beauty tries to gloss over the very poor script) and terrible acting by all the performers.

The dialogue, to my native Chinese-speaking ears, are nothing short of uncreative and hurriedly thrown-together hodge podge of ancient maxims and trite cliches any film trying to be original and substantial should avoid. Sure, Joan Chen is a beautiful actress but even her star power or any artistic integrity she isn't going to help the script or the general execution of this pathetic rip-off at all. Obviously a Chinese-Australian production aimed at the international market, in the guise of a historical Asian epic....ARRRRRRGH! Do yourself a favor and AVOID!

Hong Kong director Clara Law's film is based on a novel by Lillian Lee, who also wrote Farewell My Concubine. Set in China's Tang dynasty, it concerns the antagonism between two generals, Shi (Wu Hsin-Kuo) and Huo Da (Zhang Fengyi) who plot to overthrow the Emperor. Shi retreats from the fight when the ascendant heir is killed and seeks refuge in a Buddhist monastery. Law lacks the narrative skill to elucidate the story, relying instead on random set pieces, which occasionally redeem her painfully slow pace. The stylised use of colour and choreography in the opening ceremony and in an extended brothel sequence are very lovely, and she out-Peckinpah's Peckinpah in savage slow-motion massacres. Law has a good eye for composition, favouring the use of wind and smoke in her exteriors, and the burning of a house near the end is very beautiful. The brothel sequence features a transvestite, and the sex scene between Shi and a nun is all the more erotic because their shaved heads give it a particular subtext. Of the actors, Joan Chen manages to connect with the audience, though her screen time is limited, and the abbott monk raises a few laughs.