A mystery caper of devilish fun, Temptress Of A Thousand Faces proves a femme fatale can match any man in wickedness. A mysterious thief has been committing crimes across the city. Always disguised and ever elusive, woman detective Chi Ying cannot find any clues for a good lead. But her reporter boyfriend Yu Ta is always supportive and understanding. Reversing the standard role stereotypes, it is the man here who then becomes the damsel (or dude as the case may be) in distress. Constantly frustrating her police woman foil, the temptress manages to make a game of outwitting her nemesis.
A quite fun and relaxing film to watch, you don't have to think hard to follow the plot because it's quite straightforward. The genre is mostly about action and crime, and to a lesser extent, spy. While the actions are not too strong and not too weak, the visuals are very captivating, it really captures the late 1960s popular aesthetics, lovely.
This isn't really a spy film, it's not really like that, but it does have quite a few elements, especially in the music. Of course, there is a main hero and a main villain, but unlike most spy films of the 1960s, especially those dominated by Europe, this film is female-centered. It is very interesting to see the efforts of Chi Ying (Tina Chin-Fei), a sexy police detective who is always trying to chase the Temptress (Pat Ting Hung) with her 1000 faces.
So yeah, its focus is on the heated conflict between two female leads. A bit of erotica, if I might say so, but so funny. The boyfriend of Chi Ying is indeed a good boyfriend in helping her. Another thing is about the tantalizing and labyrinthine lair of the Temptress, if you like space age you will also like this one. Very colourful and lively sets, so charming.
I have to say that this film is a low-key feministic, it casually does away with the traditional gender roles in most superhero and spy films, where most of them, especially in that era, were centered on men. Thanks to the ample comedy elements, this won't make people who watch this film get political. I like this and this is the first film where I see this kind of phenomenon.
Enjoyable okay, enjoyable. Kick, kick, kick; phew, phew, phew; kiss, kiss, kiss. I always tend to laugh when watching films like this. Its colourful 1960s aesthetic and kissing scenes were what opened my eyes. Plenty of upskirt and fetish photography but no nudity. So pleasing!
Quote from the film:
You do nothing better than looking at women's legs.
