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Amazon.co.uk Review
Lust, Caution, Ang Lee's follow up to Brokeback Mountain, for which he won the Academy Award® for Best Director, continues his exploration of people with a passion for each other trapped in a world where their passion could be life-threatening, but in a very different context this time. Set in China during the Japanese occupation of early World War II, the underlying plot concerns the story of young Wong Chia Chi (Tang Wei), an actress and member of a small group of student resistors planning to infiltrate the home of Mr. Yee (Tony Leung), a high-ranking collaborationist government official, in order to kill him for his role in the torture and executions of Chinese resistance fighters. Chi ingratiates herself with Yee's wife, the sophisticated and cultured Mrs. Yee (Joan Chen) under the guise of being the wife of a wealthy but unseen tycoon. Flashbacks tell the tale of how Chi came to be involved with the resistors: her acting ability is her most valuable asset, and her assignment is to act the role of Mr. Yee's lover, right down to the sex. The story of their love and the painful intimacy it involves for both of them is told through their sexual relationship, which starts out violently, drifts into S&M, and shifts with their feelings, moving from pain and fear to some sort of desperate connection.
This is lust with a capital L; the film's sex scenes have become famous for their frankness and acrobatic portrayals (they took 12 days to film), but amazingly enough, it's never prurient. The nature of their sexual relationship, and not the sex itself, is the point. Chi falls in love with the man she's supposed to kill, but there is no stopping the mission and she knows it. The danger of it all collapsing for them both is ever present, and that's the Caution. The cinematography and direction in Lust, Caution is masterful, and every scene is beautiful. The film does drift into a languid pace, and at times one wonders why Lee would feel the need to draw it out at the expense of delaying the crucial climactic scenes. Still, it's a wonderful piece of storytelling that should only help solidify Ang Lee's place in cinematic history as a master of films that express the difficulty of being essentially human in an inhumane world. --Daniel Vancini
Synopsis
After Brokeback Mountain and The Hulk, multitalented director Ang Lee returns to Asia with this Mandarin-language erotic drama. Lust, Caution pairs celebrated actor Tony Leung (2046) with gifted newcomer Tang Wei. In 1938, China is occupied by the Japanese, but it's not only the country's neighbours who are hated by the loyal Chinese. The nation's resistance also centres on those who willingly collaborate with Japan. Wong Chia Chi (Tang Wei) is part of an acting group, but their sights are set beyond the stage: they want to use their abilities to attack Mr. Yee (Leung), a known traitor. Wong poses as a businessman's wife, and she begins to lure Mr. Yee in, but they're separated before she has her chance. Three years later, they meet again in Shanghai, and a heated affair begins. As Wong grows closer to Mr. Yee, there is doubt that she can aid in her lover's downfall.
At times, Lust, Caution evokes memories of Wong Kar-Wai's In the Mood for Love. Both are heat-filled period films that feature Leung, but while the earlier picture focused on a love that was never consummated, Lust, Caution allows its lovers to realise their passion as often as one could imagine. Despite this, it never allows the sex to get in the way of the plot or the images. Director of photography Rodrigo Prieto has worked with directors as diverse and impressive as Oliver Stone, Julie Taymor, Spike Lee, and Alejandro Gonzalez Inarritu, and he continues this fine tradition with his second pairing with Lee after Brokeback Mountain. Here Prieto has a head start thanks to beautiful costumes and beautiful people, but this is another film that is simply gorgeous to look at.
At times, Lust, Caution evokes memories of Wong Kar-Wai's In the Mood for Love. Both are heat-filled period films that feature Leung, but while the earlier picture focused on a love that was never consummated, Lust, Caution allows its lovers to realise their passion as often as one could imagine. Despite this, it never allows the sex to get in the way of the plot or the images. Director of photography Rodrigo Prieto has worked with directors as diverse and impressive as Oliver Stone, Julie Taymor, Spike Lee, and Alejandro Gonzalez Inarritu, and he continues this fine tradition with his second pairing with Lee after Brokeback Mountain. Here Prieto has a head start thanks to beautiful costumes and beautiful people, but this is another film that is simply gorgeous to look at.
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Customer Reviews
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
51 of 53 people found the following review helpful
Format:DVD
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 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.
11 of 11 people found the following review helpful
Format:DVD
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.
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.
6 of 6 people found the following review helpful
Format:DVD
Comparisons to the equally beautiful 'In The Mood for Love' are well targeted here and not just because of the Tony Leung connection. Lust, Caution exhibits the same muted (almost mutilated) sexual tensions against a back drop of middle-class, Western-obsessed indifference which suffocates in a vacuum of talking without communicating. Indeed, the title is like a road sign for those wishing to escape the numbness of existence: Danger follows if unheeded...
The performances are sublime as is the photography and editing (the Mah-Jong sequences deserve a special award) but it is the direction which triumphs. Ang Lee is the unchallenged master of cinema which finds beauty in an ugly world (The Ice Storm sprung to mind on several occassions) and here he surpasses all previous efforts. Tense, horrific, tragic and always, ALWAYS beautiful. If you care about cinema - watch this.
The performances are sublime as is the photography and editing (the Mah-Jong sequences deserve a special award) but it is the direction which triumphs. Ang Lee is the unchallenged master of cinema which finds beauty in an ugly world (The Ice Storm sprung to mind on several occassions) and here he surpasses all previous efforts. Tense, horrific, tragic and always, ALWAYS beautiful. If you care about cinema - watch this.
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Most Recent Customer Reviews
Powerful, sensual, unforgettable....
This rivetting work from Ang Lee is brilliantly acted and the suspense is almost unbearable. I found it so moving, the characters are subtly, carefully drawn and one is absorbed... Read more
Published 11 days ago by K. Harvey
Great
This is a great film, yes it's in sub titles but good.Well worth watching. I would recomend this film to all my friends, it's so good my wife enjoyed it that's good enough for me.
Published 1 month ago by Gealwyne
Another Ang Lee masterpiece
Ang Lee would get my vote as the world`s greatest contemporary director, especially after the hat-trick of Crouching Tiger, Brokeback Mountain and Lust, Caution. Read more
Published 2 months ago by GlynLuke
A little different
This is an interesting film if you, like me, have no great experience of Chinese film. The acting is excellent and very credible, but what makes it are the costumes. Read more
Published 3 months ago by M. Speakman
Breathtaking!
This was a truly great movie deeply akin to traditional 40s quality moviemaking when there was more emotion transmitted through glances and facial expression than by profanity and... Read more
Published 3 months ago by Melissa Mermaid
Beautifully Made
Though its love-making scenes are over done it is a master piece.
A film which psychologically looking into love, lust and caution with a historic background. Read more
A film which psychologically looking into love, lust and caution with a historic background. Read more
Published 6 months ago by Tyler
Lust, Caution (DVD) Tony Leung Chiu Wai/Tang Wei
A haunting piano theme by Alexandre Desplat gives an air of deep meditation throughout this film, directed by Ang Lee set in the second World War and illustrates the interplay... Read more
Published 13 months ago by Derek Vernon-morris
Great acting
This movie tells the story of both collaboration and resistance to the Japanese occupation of China. Read more
Published 15 months ago by Anthony Williams
Exquisite
Lust, Caution
(director Ang Lee, 2007) certif 18; Shanghaiese, Cantonese, fragments English and Japanese; English subtitles. Read more
(director Ang Lee, 2007) certif 18; Shanghaiese, Cantonese, fragments English and Japanese; English subtitles. Read more
Published 16 months ago by J. R. Moss
Powerful and Moving- a masterpiece
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... Read more
The script highlights the paranoia of power, the feeling of overt control coupled with the fear someone is going to... Read more
Published on 7 April 2010 by Dr. Delvis Memphistopheles
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