You leave the theatre a trifle exhausted but rewarded by a resonance few films possess.
Lust, Caution (2007)
Tomatometer
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Reviews Counted:139
Fresh:98
Rotten:41
Average Rating:6.6/10
Consensus: Ang Lee's Lust, Caution is a tense, sensual and beautifully-shot espionage film.
Theatrical Release:04-01-2008
Synopsis: The new film from Ang Lee, the Academy Award-winning director of "Brokeback Mountain" and "Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon." A startling erotic espionage thriller about the fate of an ordinary... The new film from Ang Lee, the Academy Award-winning director of "Brokeback Mountain" and "Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon." A startling erotic espionage thriller about the fate of an ordinary woman's heart, it is based on the short story by revered Chinese author Eileen Chang, and stars Asian cinema icon Tony Leung opposite screen newcomer Tang Wei. Shanghai, 1942. The World War II Japanese occupation of this Chinese city continues in force. Mrs. Mak, a woman of sophistication and means, walks into a café, places a call, and then sits and waits. She remembers…how her story began several years earlier, in 1938 China. She is not in fact Mrs. Mak, but shy Wong Chia Chi (Tang Wei). With WWII underway, Wong has been left behind by her father, who has escaped to England. As a freshman at university, she meets fellow student Kuang Yu Min (Wang Leehom) Kuang has started a drama society to shore up patriotism. As the theater troupe's new leading lady, Wong realizes that she has found her calling, able to move and inspire audiences – and Kuang. He convenes a core group of students to carry out a radical and ambitious plan to assassinate a top Japanese collaborator, Mr. Yee (Tony Leung). Each student has a part to play; Wong will be Mrs. Mak, who will gain Yee's trust by befriending his wife (Joan Chen) and then draw the man into an affair. Wong transforms herself utterly inside and out, and the scenario proceeds as scripted – until an unexpectedly fatal twist spurs her to flee. Shanghai, 1941. With no end in sight for the occupation, Wong – having emigrated from Hong Kong – goes through the motions of her existence. Much to her surprise, Kuang re-enters her life. Now part of the organized resistance, he enlists her to again become Mrs. Mak in a revival of the plot to kill Yee, who as head of the collaborationist secret service has become even more a key part of the puppet government. As Wong reprises her earlier role, and is drawn ever closer to her dangerous prey, she finds her very identity being pushed to the limit... --© Focus Features [More]
Starring: Tony Leung, Tang Wei, Joan Chen, Wang Lee-Hom
Starring: Tony Leung, Tang Wei, Joan Chen, Wang Lee-Hom
Director: Ang Lee
Director: Ang Lee
Screenwriter: Hui Ling Wang, James Schamus
Producer: Bill Kong, Ang Lee, James Schamus
Composer: Alexandre Desplat
Studio: Focus Features
Reviews for Lust, Caution
Saucy sex scenes apart, however, it’s hard to get drawn into a slow-moving, drawn-out story that takes two-and-a-half po-faced hours to reach its jarringly abrupt and confusing conclusion.
A pleasure to watch a film as visually stylish as it is psychologically demanding. I wish it had been twice as long.
For his sheer muscular verve and ambition, Lee deserves a standing ovation.
The intensity of the sex is far more honest and revealing than the secrets each lover tries to hide.
Lust, Caution is strangely engrossing but the fairly straightforward plot does not justify the running time.
Isolated moments of high drama and some startlingly intimate sex scenes sadly fail to galvanise a turgid and overlong whole.
Unfortunately, the scenes between the sex and violence, while beautiful, will test your patience.
Lee’s saucy, sumptuous slow-burner is a complex, elegant seduction, drawing on Hitchcock but putting a singular stamp on a rich spread of spies and sex, repression and sacrifice. Just don’t try those moves at home…
Beautifully shot, the period detail is exquisitely, and obsessively, realised.
A beautifully rendered, long, drawn-out but ultimately very satisfying story of betrayal and revenge in an uneasy setting of wartime paranoia.
Superbly written, beautifully shot and emotionally powerful espionage thriller with a terrific central performance from newcomer Tang Wei.
Though his direction is unsurprisingly beautiful, the settings lush and the performances wonderful, no one apparently had the guts to insist Lee streamline his rambling story.
Latest News for Lust, Caution
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May 17, 2009:
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It's not every day you get to have lunch with Ang Lee, so when RT were invited to do just that today in Cannes we couldn't refuse. Also joining us, James Schamus, Demetri... More...
September 26, 2008:
Maggie Q to Star in Zhuangzhuang's Latest ![]()
Maggie Q has signed on for Tian Zhuangzhuang's "The Warrior and the Wolf," stepping in for Tang Wei after Wei's appearance in "Lust, Caution" got her banned from Chinese screens. More...
February 18, 2008:
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