The Chinese have just sent the first 3D porn film out into the world. How do you respond to that? You go out and you watch it. Having done so, I can tell you one thing now: No matter what the press is telling you, 3D Sex and Zen: Extreme Ecstasy is not a porn film. It’s more of a slasher comedy made to resonate with a psychopathic child’s SOH, albeit with the odd flying donkey dick and aggressively-gripped Asian boob thrown in to make sure no one sues for false advertising. Whether the film is any good or not, I have yet to decide, but the graphics are impressive, and if history teaches us anything, it’s that porn films will always find an audience because they come from a very functional place. People will always need something to masturbate to.
I called up the movie’s director, Christopher Sun, for a chat.
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VICE: Hey Christopher, how’s it going?
Christopher Sun: Oh, hi! It’s Friday night in Hong Kong and everybody’s getting ready to go out and have drinks. It’s been a gooood week…
I’m glad to hear it. So, about your movie: How long did you plan it? Was making 3D porn a lifelong dream?
Well, I saw the first Sex And Zen something like 20 years ago when I was barely 18, and it certainly made an impression. I mean, it was quite an original film for its time, even though the story isn’t great. Then, three years ago, I was at the house of Stephen Shiu, the director whose father had produced the original. We were going through this stack of old scripts when we came across it. We thought it’d be a fun film to re-make, but couldn’t think of a modern way of retelling the story until we heard James Cameron was doing Avatar . That gave us the idea to start researching 3D technology.
Well, you beat Avatar at the Hong Kong box office, so I guess it all worked out fine. A good half of the film is dedicated to rape, dismemberment, and torture devices. What’s that about?
Well, Hong Kong has a long history of movie making and most of them are comedies, which include loads of martial arts, and strong storylines. But the subject of our story is pretty obvious: it’s about the ways a couple can mend their relationship when it goes wrong. It’s a universal theme, which means it can get quite boring. So, we had to spice it up.
3D Sex & Zen
That’s a funny way of spicing things up. How’s the censorship business been treating you?
Oh, every single country the film is shown in has censored it, but they’ve all done it in different ways. Thailand, Hong Kong, and South Korea have mostly cut out the orgy stuff. When it comes to the European versions, we were asked to take out a particular scene in which the prince accidentally chokes his concubine. They have rough sex and then he kills her. I don’t blame them for taking it out, though, I think erotic asphyxiation can make certain people uncomfortable.
Still, it must be annoying to have your film ripped apart like this.
I can’t say I’m happy about it, but if I want to show my film in as many countries as possible I will have to respect their authorities and their wishes. Thirty years ago, A Clockwork Orange was censored, even in England. So, for the time being I just feel blessed to be able to show my film. Maybe in 30 years, as the level of tolerance is evolving, we will have a chance to show the original version.
Hopefully you won’t have to wait that long. Any fun anecdotes from filming?
Loads! Filming the surgery scene was pretty funny. You know how Wei Yangsheng, the main character, needs a penis transplant because his willy is so small?
Yes.
And do you remember the part where the doctor cuts it, drops it on the floor, and then the dog eats it?
Yes.
Well, we used a piece of sausage for that, but the dog, who we trained for three months, kept refusing to eat it! So, you can imagine how much this made us laugh.
Yes, lulz all around. Speaking of penises, I do have a bone to pick with you: The film is full of depictions of penises – there are penis-shaped sculptures, fences, and clouds – but no real ones, except from that one shot of Wei Yangsheng’s tiny, tiny organ. Where’s the meat? I was a little disappointed.
Everybody is expecting to see huge, elongated penises in these types of movies, so the important thing is to play with their psychology. It’s often better to allude to things than actually show them. Also, most guys freak out about the size of their package. So, we tried to play with that anxiety, mock it, show just this tiny organ so we could have everybody feeling comfortable. We wanted to tell them to stop stressing about it, in a way. No matter how pathetic your tool, there’s always going to be someone smaller than you.
That’s nice of you. The film also has a moral ending: True love doesn’t need sex. As much as I love the whole literary convention thing you’ve got going on there, I really don’t believe that. Do you?
I do. If I didn’t, I wouldn’t make it the core of my narrative. No matter how society works, I always like to think true love will prevail. Love without sex is actually something everybody should look at more seriously.
Are you serious?
Yes. Think about it: Let’s say you have a one-night stand. The morning after, you wake up and there’s someone sleeping next to you. Your flesh might be satisfied, but there’s still a hollowness inside you. That hollowness is the lack of love. But modern society is obsessed with lust, not love, and that’s why long-term couples often turn to adultery. These issues are universal and have been stressing people since ancient times. That’s what we wanted to discuss with the film.
Wow, 3D porn goes much deeper than I thought these days. Well, thank you Christopher, have fun tonight!
Thank you, Elektra, I hope your weekend’s fun too.
ELEKTRA KOTSONI