Rating:  

As the credits rolled at the end of Lust, Caution, I turned to my husband and said, “That’s the best movie Ang Lee has ever made.”

I feel I’m qualified to make this statement since I’ve seen nearly ever Ang Lee film. Lust, Caution is better than The Wedding Banquet, better than Eat Drink Man Woman, better than Sense and Sensibility and Hulk, better than Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon, The Ice Storm, or Brokeback Mountain. I don’t think it’s too soon to say that Lust, Caution will be seen as his life’s masterpiece.

Lust, Caution (based on a short story by the legendary author Eileen Chang) is both epic and intensely personal. The film is set before and during the World War II Japanese occupation of China. Wong Chia Chi (Wei Tang) is a young woman alone; her father has moved to England with her stepmother and brother, and Wong isn’t terribly surprised when his promise to send for her comes to nothing. She goes to university in Hong Kong, where she falls in with a group of idealistic young students. When news of the Japanese invasion reaches Hong Kong, they decide to raise money for a Chinese resistance group by putting on a patriotic play. A reluctant Wong is voted into the starring role. She turns out to be a natural talent, and the donations roll in.

But the students aren’t satisfied with raising money. Lee (Kuan Yu Min), the unofficial leader of the group, comes up with a far-fetched plan to assassinate a well-known government official and collaborator, Mr. Yee (Tony Leung), who is visiting Hong Kong with his wife (Joan Chen). The students concoct a scheme to ingratiate Wong with Mrs. Yee, seduce Mr. Yee, and lure him to a rented house, where they will kill him. With a few nice dresses and some makeup, Wong is transformed into Mrs. Mak, the wife of a wealthy importer. Mrs. Yee takes to her right away, but Yee himself proves to be a highly cautious man; he’s well aware of the danger his position puts him in. Just when it seems Wong is getting somewhere, a sudden betrayal ends in murder, and the group’s plans fall to pieces.

Fast forward two years. Wong is now living in Shanghai with her aunt, attending classes between work shifts. One day she’s approached by a familiar face: Lee, who’s joined a resistance group operating in Shanghai. He has a proposal for her: reprise her role as Mrs. Mak. The Yees are now living in Shanghai as well, and the students’ original plan can still be carried out if Wong will agree. Spurred by patriotism, by affection, by discontent with her life- and maybe, too, by a lingering fascination with the quiet, complex Yee- Wong agrees.

Mrs. Yee is delighted to meet Mrs. Mak again, and Wong becomes entangled in hours of mah-jong and gossip with Mrs. Yee and her friends. The plan to seduce Yee eventually succeeds (after more than an hour of private glances, whispered telephone conversations and sexual tension), but he’s cautious as ever, and the rebel group hesitates to make their move until they can be sure it will succeed. In the meantime Wong finds herself more and more involved with Yee, physically, mentally, and emotionally.

Ang Lee’s latest doesn’t offer instant gratification for anyone involved; it requires time and patience from the viewer. Sometimes Mrs. Yee’s mah-jong games seem as endless to the audience as they do to Wong. But not a moment is wasted in Lust, Caution. Every comment, every glance, speaks volumes about the characters and their places in this dangerous world. It’s fascinating to watch the characters change: as Wong grows more confident in her role (and less confident about her ultimate goal), her loathing for Yee begins to subtly transform. Lee begins to wonder what he’s subjected her to, and Mrs. Yee shows she’s not as shallow as she seems (Joan Chen is excellent as the not-quite-cuckolded wife). And while any fan of Asian cinema would expect nothing but greatness from Tony Leung, he outdoes himself as Mr. Yee. Leung is a master at showing the dark sides of good men (Infernal Affairs) and the good sides of villains (Hard Boiled). In Lust, Caution he does both- we know Yee is a collaborator with the Japanese, but he is so bland and polite to his wife’s friends you have to wonder if he’s capable of what the rebel group accuses him. Then he unleashes his sadistic impulses on his young mistress, and just when you hate him it seems love might in fact be affecting his nature…until his final act in the film, which will redeem or condemn him in the viewer’s eyes.

No expense was spared on Lust, Caution. 1940’s Shanghai is brought vividly to life with lavish sets and costumes; not a hair is out of place here.

Lee’s previous movie, Brokeback Mountain, gained attention due to the nature of its sex- the film portrayed a tragic affair between two gay man (in case you’ve been living on a desert island and didn’t know). Lust, Caution gained attention for the sheer intensity of its sex. And what of this notorious sex, which earned the movie an NC-17 rating, thus barring it from most U.S. theaters? The sex scenes that so fueled speculation the actors were in fact having sex on camera? Sorry to disappoint you, smut-hunters. The sex makes up less than ten minutes of this emotionally intense, visually sumptuous, historically dense film. The movie wouldn’t work without it. The sex isn’t romantic or titillating; it’s raw and almost painful. Yee and Wong are tragic people; lost in their respective roles, they can only reveal their true faces when they are totally, literally naked. Score one for Puritanism. Good job, America!

The DVD includes the obligatory ‘making of’ featurette as well as a discussion with Ang Lee, the stars and some of the movie’s production crew.

Details

Publisher: Universal Studios
Director: Ang Lee
Stars: 5
Running Time: 159 minutes
MPAA Rating: NC-17
MSRP: $29.98
Release Date: 02/18/08
Buy:

http://www.amazon.com/Lust-Caution-Widescreen-NC-17-Rated/dp/B0010SAGHI/ref=pd_bbs_sr_1?ie=UTF8&s=dvd&qid=1213235797&sr=8-1

Links

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0808357/