It is often said that pornography is one of the primary drivers of visual technology, and it was only ever going to be a matter of time until the 3D craze went X-rated. Now that Sex and Zen: Extreme Ecstasy is wowing Chinese viewers, a host of further projects are being planned, including a remake of controversial 1979 film Caligula.
Like the mainstream film industry, pornography has been hit hard by the internet. The problem for X-rated film producers is slightly different - it's not so much that their work is pirated as that a huge amount of amateur work is available for free. Given that most of their customers aren't concerned about high art, it's difficult to make the case that a professional product is worth paying for. Now they are hoping that the 3D experience will draw viewers back into cinemas.
Filmed in Taiwan with actors speaking Cantonese, Sex and Zen: Extreme Ecstasy is every inch a professional production. It's a historical epic based on the classic text The Carnal Prayer Mat and it benefits from elegant set design. When the actors are clothed, they have sumptuous costumes. The sex itself is unlikely to see it excluded from mainstream UK cinemas should it find a distributor, but it has been cut by the Chinese censor, with the result that viewers are travelling en masse to see it in Hong Kong where the rules are different. Its immediate success means it is likely to presage the making of many similar projects, though it remains to be seen whether, once the wow factor wears off, such films will continue to attract viewers under their own steam.
