Temptress Moon, 風月 (1996) ENG SUB

Like Farewell My Concubine, Temptress Moon proved to be controversial in its native China, due to its frank but unsensational depiction of sex and drug use. Opening in 1911, shortly before the collapse of the Imperial government, Temptress Moon follows the wealthy and powerful Pang Family, whose patriarch is hopelessly addicted to opium, which he calls the source of all Zhengda has married a woman named Xiuyi, and her younger brother Zhongliang is brought to live with the Pangs, where he earns his keep as a servant. Zhengda shares his father s dependence on opium, and Zhongliang s responsibilities include minding their pipes; Zhengda also forces Zhongliang to kiss Xiuyi in a shadowy incident that suggests an incestuous relationship. In time, Zhongliang grows to adulthood and flees the Pang estate; he travels to Shanghai, where he becomes a gigolo, seducing women and stealing their valuables.