| 'Torrent of Desire' (1969) is a flawed, dated, yet solid and occasionally gripping melodrama from director Lo Chen. While their widowed father (Tien Feng) is away on business, David/Da Wei (Chiao Chuang), Mona (Angela Yu Chien), and their foster brother Hanming (Yang Fan) threaten to tear the family apart when they become decadent and spiteful. Jenny Hu portrays Danfeng, a stunning young woman who David falls in love with and he marries. It doesn't help when Hanming secretly covets Danfeng, Mona (who covets her foster brother Hanming) finds out about Hanming's secret, and she plans on using it against him when he refuses to be seduced by her. Mona tells Da Wei about Hanming's secret and he starts to lose it. Da Wei, like in Shakespeare's 'Othello', becomes insane when he finds out that Hanming secretly covets Danfeng. Can Da Wei gain back his sanity and can his family be saved from ruin? Ouyang Shafei co-stars as Ms. Chen, Danfeng's boss.
Chiao Chuang and Yang Fan are handsome and decent actors, but their lack of a screen presence works against this film. Also, the film kind of snores at times when it isn't engaging. I do like the very polyphonic jazz music that's used in the credits. It works for the film as it's about a wealthy, prestigious family that's threatened by corruption and decadence by its own members. Jenny Hu, Tien Feng, and Ouyang Shafei give solid performances, but it's Angela Yu Chien who steals the show as Da Wei's vampy, spiteful sister Mona. Her diabolical laugh felt like a villainess out of a Saturday morning cartoon. This is the first serious Jenny Hu that I've seen; the only other Jenny Hu that I've seen, so far, is the inane, unabashed, yet fun 'Guess Who Killed My Twelve Lovers' (1969). The bios on the Celestial/Shaw DVD for 'Torrent of Desire' claim that the Shaw execs usually cast Jenny in contemporary films and they kept her out of period dramas and action-oriented films. The reason, I presume, is probably because of her Germanic-Chinese complexion. There's another Shaw Brothers actress named Shen Yueh Ming and (to me, at least) she resembles Jenny Hu. I wonder if Shen Yue Ming is "pure" Chinese or mixed like Jenny? I am not racist or anything and I won't make a big deal out of it. My own bloodline is like "a patch of wild flowers". Aside from some flaws and the fact that it promises a lot and delivers little, 'Torrent of Desire' is a downbeat, yet decent melodrama. |
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