Li (Wong Shu-Kei) is a fake eunuch at the emperor's court & as such
of course has sex with one of the emperors concubines. When young
emperor Tongshi however discovers that Li is not a real eunuch after
all, he does not expell him but make him his personal confidant, since
he is in love with a mere chambermaid, Guilian (Yung Hung), a woman far
below his ranks, & needs somebody to cover for him. But the whole
thing is uncovered by jealous & treacherous head eunuch On (Yung
Sai-Kit), who tortures Guilian & then sells her into prostitution,
plus he tortures the concubine Li had sex with (& as a result
impregnated) to death. Guilian, in the brothel, learns the art of the
8 Semi Devils, sexual practices to satisfy a man without
penetration, & does become a top hooker. The emperor & Li
meanwhile, having learned of Guilian's fate, search the brothels for
her, albeit in vain. However, the emperor takes a liking into having sex
with prostitutes anyway & their visits to the brothels become more
& more frequent - that is, until the emperor catches a fatal veneral
disease. Only then does he find Guilian, to die in her arms. She then
commits suicide, ripping off her own face. Infuriated, Li takes some
soldiers to eunuch On & has him torn apart, acting out the emperor's
last order. Soon later, Li's secret - that he is not castrated - is
found out by the intrigant Queen Mother. She though recognizes the use
of such a tricky person to her own ends & makes him her own
confidant.
A movie that can't decide whether to be erotic tale, serious love
story, gore movie, comedy or erotic martial arts movie, so has elements
of all these genres without ever bringing them into a coherent context,
so in the end aeach element is diminishing the efficiency of the others,
in the end making Sex and the Emperor a very bland affair indeed.
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