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LUST, CAUTION Send This Review to a Friend
In a moody, sometimes sexy thriller, director Ang Lee takes us back to wartime when the Japanese brutally occupied Shanghai and Hong Kong. In this story of resistance, written by Wang Hui Ling and James Schamus from a short story, “Se, Jei” by Eileen Chang, a young woman who is part of a secret group is sent to get close to a Japanese officer known for his ruthlessness and cruelty in wiping out rebel cells. “Lust, Caution” was showcased at the 2007 Toronto International Film Festival before getting its commercial release.
The lovely actress Tang Wei plays Wong Chia Chi, the spy, who had been part of a theater group, and now has been enlisted by her comrades for the perilous assignment. The noted, sexy Tony Leung plays Mr. Yee, the Japanese villain who is closely guarded from assassination. With a new identity given her, Wong is positioned in a situation in which Yee can meet her. He is smitten. She plays it cool, and an affair begins on his terms. Also in the cast is the noted Joan Chen as Lee’s wife.
When the sex begins, it is hot, rough and explicit. (The Motion Picture Association Rating Board has stupidly given it an NC-17, no one under 17 allowed, yet another illustration of the rating system absurdities.) Wong, while mindful of the viciousness of the man she is supposed to help set up for assassination, gets to see the side of him that eventually sincerely responds to her, and she becomes overly emotionally and physically involved. It is a recipe for potential disaster—and the buildup of suspense when crunch time arrives.
There are credibility issues to which one can point, but overall the film succeeds because of the acting quality, the charisma of its leads, the mood Lee is able to establish and the danger of the situation, with high stakes for those in the resistance. It is also historically interesting for its recollection of what the Japanese did to China. A Focus Features release.
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