"Lust, Caution" Review (2007)

Ang Lee is truly one of the greatest filmmakers alive today. At first, I was not sure what to make of this seemingly gentle and quiet director of such films as "Pushing Hands", "Wedding Banquet" and "Eat Drink Man Woman". His films were wonderful slices of life and were definitely well made with solid scripts. I thought, okay an Asian Woody Allen maybe. Then he made a movie with Emma Thompson and Kate Winslet called "Sense and Sensibility". It was a film I loved as Ang Lee showed me that he could do visual flair with an English cast. I was surprised and delighted by that Jane Austen adaptation. Still, I was not convinced that Ang Lee was a master on the level of Zhang Yimou or Wong Kar Wai. Despite his solid film making foundations, visually and thematically, I was questioning Mr. Lee. Subsequently, Lee made other small films such as "Ice Storm" and "Ride with the Devil". Both films were ok to me. I liked them but I did not love them. These films seemed to confirm my suspicion that Ang Lee wll never do something truly exciting. How much was I wrong?
With 2000's "Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon" and 2005's "Brokeback Mountain", I finally realized that Ang Lee is a film maker to be taken seriously. The 2000 Martial Arts epic entertained as well as established his auteur themes of impossible love and loneliness. The 2005 landmark gay romance epic built on that theme and despite its slow burning pace, truly touched people all over the world, gay or not. Even his much maligned attempt at Hollywood blockbuster "Hulk", was not as bad as people remember. It was maybe misguided but sincere and special.
Now Ang Lee has finally risen to the top of the game with this adapation of Eileen Chang's novella. I don't know what the future will bring but currently Ang Lee is a cinema god up there with the best. Let me explain why "Lust, Caution" is such a masterpiece.
There is little doubt that such films as "Casablanca" and "Notorious' are regarded as masterpieces of cinema. Yet, those films are very flawed, just as any movie including "Lust, Caution". "Casablanca" only superficially touched on the prices real human beings pay for patriotism, love and lust. RIck (Bogart) was suffering because of his lost love, but he was a tough guy who finally sacrificed everything for the good of humanity against the Nazis. Elsa (Bergman) was in love with both men, the noble Lazlo and the carnal RIck. The movie never seared deeply into the hearts of these characters. Same can be said about "Notorious", Cary Grant had to sacrifice his love to catch the Nazi. Meaning, sending his lover to sleep and seduce the enemy. Yet these movies never touched on the sex, the human cost of Bergman(in both films) and the psychology of the characters. Restricted by the rating system at the time and the notion that cinema is an escapist medium. Difficult questions were only implied and could not be analyzed upon. This is where Ang Lee achieves his greatness with "Lust, Caution".
"Lust Caution" is about a group of patriotic and idealistic young Chinese during the Japanese occupied China (Hong Kong and Shanghai) circa WWII. The charismatic and handsome leader Kuang (Wang Lee Hom) comes up with the plan to assasinate a traitorous Chinese collaborator played by Leung Chiu Wai in Hong Kong. He uses as the bait, a rather lonely and naive girl Wang Jiazhi played by Tang Wei, she is recently abandoned by her father and lives alone. It is clear that in the beginning that Wang is doing this to impress the group and perhaps get more attention from Wang, whom she is clearly infatuated with (maybe even in love). Kuang's passion is to save the country from the Japanese, shown with a sequence showing a melodramatic play the group put on to move the masses. These kids are way over their heads. The one in the line of fire is Wang, she really gets into her role as the fictitious Mrs Mak (her cover character). Wang befriends Mr. Yee and Mrs. Yee. You can see that both of them are charmed by Mrs. Mak. A surprise turn of events end this first part of the failed assasination with some pretty sobering consequences for the group.
Two years later, Wang is an impoverished student in Shangahi. She gets recruited by the previous group again, this time with some official help from the resistance. Wang agrees to the re-ignited assasination plot and the group goes all out to trap Mr. Yee and gather information about the Japanese. It becomes clear that Mr. Yee is very drawn to this charming girl and they have sexual chemistry. They start to have an intense sexual affair. It starts very violently and as the affair goes on, it becomes less violent but still intense. The film features some of the steamiest sex scenes put on a maintream film. These sex scenes are crucial as you can see during these scenes that Mr. Yee becomes alive and you can feel his passion and humanity. At this point, the movie takes on the next level. Are these two damaged people falling in lust or in love. Is Wang really in love with Mr. Yee? Or is it Mrs. Mak, the character that Wang plays in the movie in love with Mr. Yee? Near the end, the two characters both do acts of true love (debatable) that bring the movie to an understated yet powerful conclusion. This film's central question is that what price do we pay for lust, love and country? At what point, do we have to pay with our hearts and at what point do things go too far? What is morality and can one fall in love with a monster? Heavy quesitons indeed and I dug every moment of this film.
It should be noted that both Leung Chiu Wai and Tang Wei give brave and baring perormances (physically and emotionally). Both characters are complex and fully drawn with mysteries around both. The supporting characters are solid as well, especially from Joan Chen and a 2 scene cameo from Bollywood legend Anupam Kher. The script is as tight as ever expected from the Ang Lee/James Schamus team. The production values are high and techinically perfect. This is a haunting film. It is also long and slow but never boring as I was completely into this world. "Lust, Caution" is one of my favorite films of all time, it is not perfect as no movie is. I think Ang Lee erred in not showing some toruture scenes to establish Mr. Yee's evil. Wang Lee Hom, the pop idol, playing a crucial part, did not communicate his inner turmoil very well. But, on the scale of things, the movie shook me hard. It is a mature and powerful take on classics like "Casablanca" and "Notorious". There are no easy resolutions like those two classics but in a way, this movie adds psychological insights to those films which many might of glossed over as entertainment. "Lust, Caution" taken this way, is a homage but also makes its own impact. Just like "Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon" which was a re-imagining of the martial arts genre with an emotional core, "Lust Caution" is a re-imaginging of the spy, romance genre with a psychological core. Ang Lee has crafted a movie that I will love for years to come.
Rated NC-17 for strong sexual content, nudity and violence.
Aspect Ratio: 1:85
Mandarin Chinese