Lust Caution [DVD] [2007] [US Import] [NTSC]

Lust, Caution (directed by Brokeback Mountain's Ang Lee) is set in Japanese-occupied China during the second world war. The sets are beautifully realised and the costumes are stunning.

The story deals with a young revolutionary who must seduce a Japanese collaborator (played by the always excellent Tony Leung Chiu Wai) in order to get close enough for the revolutionaries to assasinate him.

Some critics have called the film slow but I prefer to think of it as smouldering, the story does take a while to get going but I was never bored, the performances and atmosphere has me mesmorised.

This film is beautifully made, deeply moving and wonderfully acted. Yes there are 3 quite graphic sex scenes but I do feel they add to the story and help realise the attraction between the 2 man characters.

This is a wonderful film that fans of both Western and Eastern cinema should try.

The controversy around the film is ridiculous - as is hype around its so called S&M aspects. The simplest way past these is by focusing on the specifics - this is not claiming to be a film about men and women in general.
The film is a intelligent and clear-eyed exploration of ayoung woman's sexual development and search for identity in the unfortunate, brutal circumstances of hostile occupation by a foreign power (metaphor in itself but I'll leave that bone for some enterprising film student to pick).
In this film a emotionally isolated young woman has her need to belong and be noticed exploited - first unwittingly by her mates, then, it is implied, more knowingly, by the underground movement - as she is drawn into games of pretend and make-believe that go all the way to the sexual arena.
In her lack of experience (both life&sexual) she is first no match for the target chosen for her: a paranoid, damaged man who's sexuality is heavily marked by his (justified) fear of death. It would be a miracle if his particular needs would not have a potent impact on her fledgeling sexuality in their complex sexual encounters.
And as if physical intimacy was not enough, a certain intimacy is also created by the fact that her comrades are so uneasy around sex and sexuality that her experiences with him have made her an alien to them.

It is her victory that in this environment she finally starts to carve an identity for herself and make her own choices, how ever misjudged in terms of consequence. I found it fully understandable that she would find it thouching when he, in the end, attempts to give her what he thinks she wants, and how perversely sorry she must have felt for him when he finally forgets to fear her. It goes to show the difficulty of sustaining detachment in sexual relations - where there is lust, caution: your heart is not far away, and it may trample your logic.

A truly adult film - forget the puns.

A great film concerning love berayal, lust and loss.

The script highlights the paranoia of power, the feeling of overt control coupled with the fear someone is going to take it all away. The assassin is sent to destroy the man from within by killing him but succumbs to his powerplay. The film twists and turns into its final cataclysmic finale where the man has the twist of the knife turned into him metaphorically as he becomes shredded by loss.

This film captures so many psychological essences, you would have to be severely emotionally shut down not to connect, just as the protagonist is emotionally dead.

The camera work is long slow and captures the mood and essence. It is a perfect film working on so many levels. It is a haunting film lingering for days after the event. Either you connect with it or you don't.

It does have the smack and bite of reality. How do I know? I've worked within power structures and seen minor variations of these event happen, as has anyone else I have spoke to. Thankfully I am well away from this world now but it is a stark reminder of the deadened emotional world of power.