was a feast fit for an emperor.<\/p>\n
On Friday night, the cast and crew of \u201c3-D Sex and Zen: Extreme Ecstasy,\u201d described as the world\u2019s first 3-D erotic film, gathered at a Hong Kong restaurant to promote the Ming Dynasty-era sex romp.<\/p>\n
Producer Stephen Shiu Jr. and director Christopher Sun lined up the movie\u2019s cast members for dinner and a photo shoot at Supreme Hot Pot \u2014 a bustling local establishment on a busy street corner in Kowloon\u2019s Tai Kok Tsui district, tucked behind the noisier and more chaotic Mong Kok.<\/p>\n
William Lee \u2014 the proprietor of the restaurant, which is wallpapered with posters for the movie \u2014 was busy supervising the dinner. His eatery serves up a traditional Hong Kong favorite: raw food that\u2019s cooked in a large pot of boiling water in the center of the dining table. A bountiful assortment of fish balls, seafood, meat and vegetables was spread out across the table as the movie group posed for a crowd of journalists and photographers.<\/p>\n
Actress Vonnie Lui, armed with a pair of chopsticks and a coquettish smile, fed leading man Hiro Hayama as photographers scrambled to capture the scene. If there was any hesitation among the stars about appearing in a soft-core movie, it wasn\u2019t on display Friday night.<\/p>\n
\u201cYes, I thought about the nudity,\u201d says Mr. Hayama, a Japanese actor who\u2019s lived in Hong Kong for 10 years and speaks Cantonese and English. \u201cI\u2019m a very low-profile person.\u201d<\/p>\n
Mr. Hayama, who has appeared in roughly 20 Hong Kong movies, including \u201cNew Police Story\u201d (2004), starring Jackie Chan, says acting is his chosen profession and he\u2019ll do what\u2019s required of him.<\/p>\n
The skin flick is a remake of \u201cSex and Zen,\u201d a notorious 1991 sex farce that over the years has reached cult status and earned its place as one of Hong Kong\u2019s most successful Category III films. (Category III is the equivalent of the NC-17 rating in the U.S.) Both films draw their inspiration from \u201cThe Carnal Prayer Mat,\u201d a 17th-century erotic novel by author Li Yu.<\/p>\n
The movie is the pet project of Stephen Shiu, who produced the 1991 version, and his son Stephen Shiu Jr. (They weren\u2019t involved in two \u201cSex and Zen\u201d sequels from the 1990s.)<\/p>\n
By some measures, the 25 million Hong Kong dollar (US$3.2 million), Cantonese-language production is part of the great tradition of Hong Kong\u2019s entrepreneurial spirit and the ability to exploit a new trend for profit: in this case, 3-D entertainment.<\/p>\n
The younger Mr. Shiu says after watching the 2008 Hollywood movie \u201cJourney to the Center of the Earth,\u201d it became clear to him that 3-D had reached maturity.
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