SmartShanghai | Red Light, Red Heat

Red Light, Red Heat

By Frances Arnold, Nov 9th, 2011 | In Art

Sex, as they say, sells, and this weekend a film by Australian director Sam Voutas will explore just that to hilarious effect. Brace yourselves, Shanghai: Red Light Revolution is coming. SmartShanghai caught up with cast, crew, and a couple of local experts to discuss dismantling the stereotypes surrounding sex toys and challenging taboos in China.

Set in a Beijing hutong, Red Light Revolution follows down-on-his-luck Shunzi (Zhao Jun), who, at the suggestion of an old friend, opens up a sex shop with the help of savvy but sweet pal, Lili (played by Vivid Wang). Shot in 2010 and entirely in Mandarin, the film has already earned itself awards and accolades internationally -- quite a coup for non-native speaker Voutas.

Voutas: "It’s definitely a challenge to shoot a movie in a second language, especially when that movie involves sex toys. I’m not familiar with the English names of many of the gizmos, let alone the Chinese names. But luckily we had a team for the shoot who were very supportive and didn’t mind when my grammar was incorrect. Sex toys look simple but they’re actually rather technical I’ve found, so calling a clock-wise rotation 300-watt vibrator by another name wasn’t such a worry when the lighting guy is calling it “thingy”.

Thingys, dildos, vibrators -- sex toys were always going to make an unusual, and ultimately very funny, subject for a film. Voutas discusses the initial concept behind Red Light Revolution:

Voutas: "When you have a limited budget the concept has to be unique enough to grab audience attention. Sex and going shopping have always been popular with the general public, so I thought if we put the two together it would be even more appealing. But honestly I think I was just looking for a topic that hadn’t been explored much in feature films before, something that seemed to resonate with the changes I was seeing around me here in Beijing".

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That sex toys are still somewhat taboo in China is also, inevitably, part of the appeal. But, as an evening-time stroll in any of the city's neighborhoods will tell you, that's not to say that they're remotely hidden, with a dizzying number of stores cropping up across both Shanghai and Beijing, manned by aging ayis in white coats, and invariably ever so slightly sleazy. Whilst Shunzi and Lili's shop doesn't quite fit this mold, it's far from classy -- cue screening sponsors, Amy's Bedroom, whose newest outlet in Jing'an is managed by the sparkling Kara Bierley, smashing that stereotype with an eminently friendly, fun-filled store.

Pretty in pastel pinks with inviting sofas and an all-female staff, Amy's Bedroom's second Shanghai shop couldn't be further from Shunzi's fictional Beijing premises. Opened earlier this year, the store is the second from Bierley and business partner Helen Chen and follows in the footsteps of the now well-established Xiangyang Lu emporium. It's quality stuff, with the likes of LELO, We Vibe, Fun Factory, and Nomi Tang, as well as some of the classier Chinese brands all presented in a refreshingly non-intimidating fashion.

Bierley: "The characters in the film face the same taboos as us. Our shops are very different in how we present products and the types of products too, but we're both selling sex toys. We face the same scrutiny from neighbors, the same nervous customers -- really the situations are quite similar".

Despite now making some 80% of the world's sex toys, the first dedicated China store only opened in Beijing in 1993. Inevitably for such a young commercial industry, there are teething problems both for Shunzi and Lili, but also the real-life sex toy sellers too.

Bierley: "There's been problems every step of the way in terms of trying to be super legal. When we went to apply for the business license, for example, there were a thousand different categories for selling all different commodities, but nothing for this type of stuff. Even now we occasionally get the landlord coming along and saying that a certain product should be stored in the back. It's a delicate position, but at least they're not telling me to hide the entire shop! In those terms, China's come a long way".

Steve Thomson, Global Marketing Manager for fellow screening sponsors, LELO echoes Bierley's sentiments: the world of sex toys is a-changing - especially in China:

Thomson: "LELO's sales have grown more than 200% in the last year in China because of a growing understanding that their are more to sex toys than cheap plastic buzzers and jelly-like phalluses. For me the nicest thing about the film is the comedy they get from sex toy taboos and the curiosity people have for these products. While the film shows mainly cheap novelty toys, LELO offer products that have the design qualities and tastefulness to break this taboo from above. I think if Shunzi picked up a Soraya he wouldn't be laughing -- he'd be surprised that it could belong in a sex shop like his. That's the whole point with LELO -- proving that sex toys don't have to obey the stereotype".

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As for the star of the film, Vivid Wang, Red Light Revolution was her acting debut -- one that took her more than a year to show her mother:

Wang: "China hasn't really made any movies about this topic before, it's something quite new. When I first heard that the movie was about selling sex toys, my initial reaction was 'Woah, I'm not doing that!', but then I read the script and I really thought it was good -- it helped it was a comedy”.

"[My mother] was happy to see that I made one of my dreams come true. She knows I've always wanted to be an actress, but when she saw me hitting Shunzi on the head with a dildo she was a little shocked and had to cover her eyes!"

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To join the Red Light Revolution, be sure to catch one of this week's three screenings, and for full details, click here.