Film Review: Lust, Caution

About Lust, Caution (2008)Award-winning erotic thriller from renowned director Ang Lee. The film is set during the Japanese occupation of Shanghai during World War II. Wong Chia Chi (Wei Tang) is a student involved in a radical and ambitious plan to assassinate a top Japanese collaborator, Mr Yee (Tony Leung Chiu Wai). Wong has transformed herself inside and out to become the sophisticated Mrs Mak, who will attempt to gain Yee’s trust by befriending his wife (Joan Chen) and then draw the man into an affair. As she is drawn ever closer to her dangerous prey, she finds her very identity being pushed to the limit.

Starring: Tony Leung Chiu Wai, Joan Chen, Leehom Wang, Tang Wei

Directed by: Ang Lee

Runtime: 157 minutes

Studio: Universal Pictures

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Review: Lust, Caution 

Director Ang Lee was responsible for one of the best films of the last decade in Brokeback Mountain (2005) so I was naturally intrigued when he turned his attention back to China for his next project Lust, Caution, based on a 1979 short story by Eileen Chang. I’d heard two things about the film which had divided critics, the first being the length of two and a half hours but most notable were explicit sex scenes. I was fascinated to see if there was something beyond these two factors and in Ang Lee I had high hopes for a decent film.

Set during the Second Sino-Japanese War (1937-45), the film is divided between Hong Kong in 1938 and Shanghai in 1942. The focal point is student Wong Chia Chi (Tang Wei) who is attending university while waiting for her father in the UK to arrange for her passage out of war torn China. Chia Chi joins a theater group led by the handsome Kuang Yu Min (Leehom Wang) whose work is designed to inspire patriotic spirit in the Chinese who are seemingly fighting a losing battle against the Japanese. Seeing potential in Chia Chi, Kuang gahers her and a group of friends together to attempt a daring assassination attempt against Mr Yee (Tony Leung Chiu-Wai), a special agent and recruiter employed by the puppet government in China masterminded by the Japanese. Chia Chi is installed in Mr Yee’s household as a new friend to his wife Mrs Yee (Joan Chen). Chia Chi’s role is to seduce Mr Yee, gain his confidence and line him up for the rest of her conspirators to assassinate him. Foiled in 1938, the group disbands but Chia Chi is reunited with Kuang in 1942 and the plot takes place once more. However, the longer Chia Chi spends as Mr Yee’s mistress the more difficult it becomes for her to balance the roles of lover and conspirator.

The film opens with Chia Chi in a cafe and making a telephone call, seemingly a coded message that causes a group of men to arm themselves. We’re quickly whisked back to 1938 where Chia Chi is a beautiful but shy student at Lingnan University. She and a friend are drawn to Kuang who is running auditions for his drama group and we suspect early on that Chia Chi is more interested in Kuang than the theater work. Despite that, she becomes the star in a play from Kuang which inspires the audience with its proclamations of Chinese patriotism and the refusal to surrender to Japan. After the success of the play, Kuang gathers his friends in celebration and discusses the idea of doing their bit for the war against Japan. He pinpoints the ruthless Mr Yee as a key target and hatches the idea of an assassination attempt. Chia Chi, as one of only two women in the group, is pushed forward as the one to become mistress to Mr Yee and her initial resentment is difficult to hide, especially with Kuang approving of the choice. Still a virgin, Chia Chi is resigned to practicing sex with another of the men in the group, the only one with any experience and that being with prostitutes. Although the group manage to get Chia Chi – now posing as Mrs Mak – into the Yee household their plans are soon scuppered when Mr Yee and his wife leave Hong Kong and return to Shanghai. The group are forced to break up but not before having to resort to murder to protect their secrets, a barrier they have no choice in crossing.

When Chia Chi is reunited with Kuang in 1942 he has continued his political activities and become a member of the KMT that is trying to overthrow Japan’s puppet government in China. Mr Yee has now become the head of a secret police organisation in the government and actively hunts and kills resistance members. The stakes are now even higher than in 1938 but Kuang persuades to Chia Chi to once again become Mrs Mak and return to the Yee household. This time Mr Yee is quick to begin an affair with Mrs Mak and the opening occasion is uncomfortable and brutal to say the least but over time their meetings become more emotional and lovemaking somewhat tender. The longer her role continues though the more difficult it becomes for Chia Chi to continue. While Mr Yee begins to fall for her, Chia Chi finds herself with divided loyalties, warming to her lover but mindful of the trap she needs to lay for the assassination. The question is whether Chia Chi and go through the plot when the time finally comes to act.

Ang Lee hits the right notes once again with Lust, Caution. This is no Brokeback Mountain but I still found it utterly absorbing throughout and didn’t feel the film’s length to be any impediment at all. I’ve seen Tony Leung in a few films now and it was no surprise to find him delivering another terrific performance as the ruthless Mr Yee. Tang Wei is exceptional as Chia Chi/Mrs Mak and is something of a surprise that she hasn’t been cast in more films since this one. As for the sex scenes, well, they are at times quite long and explicit, there’s no doubt but they are integral to the film’s storyline. Mr Yee’s first encounter with Mrs Mak is quite violent, almost to the extent of rape, but their later encounters are more emotional and gentle liaisons, a testament to the effect this woman has had on Mr Yee. The ending of the film is fantastic, you’ll be guessing right up to the conclusion, but there’s some hard-hitting moments before the final credits so be sure to brace yourself.

Lust, Caution divided critics when it was first released but for me it is an excellent film with a tense storyline and great acting especially from Leung and Wei. The sex scenes are undoubtedly explicit but they have a purpose in the overall narrative and are not just there for the sake of it. This is in my opinion Ang Lee’s second best film after Brokeback Mountain and continues his reputation as a great director.

Verdict: 5/5

(Film source: reviewer’s own copy)

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