As I write this, I have just finished being devastated by 2007’s Lust, Caution. This is a 2 ½ hour picture set in Japanese-occupied WWII China, with dialogue in Chinese. And, oh yes, it’s NC-17. Honestly, it might as well be NC-40, because this picture is too sophisticated for those who are just looking for wank fodder.
Unlike most movies that have carried this, the most restrictive of ratings, to date, here is a picture made on an astonishingly big budget. You can clearly see that money on the screen, as entire period streets (complete with an ancient streetcar) are recreated. Top-tier CGI provides the city beyond the edges of the street. All of this is done tastefully. We are simply being immersed in an environment.
This is an epic movie in time, spanning four years, and space, taking place in Hong Kong and Shanghai. What is impressive is this remains an intimate work even within that scope. This isn’t a film of epic battles. Instead, this is all about small glances and conversations where what isn’t said is as important as what is. As a key character here observes, small talk is a rare moment to be treasured.
Tang Wei makes her feature debut here as young actress recruited in a plot to assassinate a high-level official in the collaborative government. That official is played by Tony Leung Chiu-wai, an intimidating figure of few words and in complete control of himself and the others in his circle. I have no doubt this character is very effective at torturing those he interrogates. Wei has her work cut out for her in trying to seduce him.
And yet she is up to the challenge. Her approach succeeds where previous operatives failed, and DAMN does she ever snag him. Not much in the way of sex happens until about one-and-a-half hours in but, when it does start, the movie earns its NC-17 rating. That said, if you came to this for entirely prurient reasons, you will likely be disappointed.
The rather strong sex scenes here are less about what is happening physically than it is the millions of tiny assessments and transactions in their glances. In this time of war, this is yet another battlefield to navigate. You can see each of them appraising the other, wondering if they can truly and completely surrender themselves to the other. And, even if can safely, should they?
Bear with me while I quickly touch on a few random aspects I took away from this experience. In a time jump backwards four years, Wei is walking on a stage, gently touching the branches of artificial trees, when she is recruited by her fellow actors for the mission. I like the symbolism of her about to transition from acting on a stage to acting on a the largest, and most dangerous, of stages. Also, while the picture is seriously lacking in comic moments, there is a nice bit where two of the actors fail miserably shooting at bottles until one is shattered almost by accident: “One bottle assassinated!”
Lust, Caution is an extraordinary film, and I especially liked how it immersed me in a time and place with which I wasn’t previously familiar. I even came away with a deeper understanding of how significantly different the various dialects of Chinese can be—apparently almost like different languages. And yet, more than the cultural differences, this picture is more concerned what are the similarities of people around the world. Whether it is body language or the language of love, Lust, Caution is mostly about things which require no subtitles.
Dir: Ang Lee
Starring: Tony Leung Chiu-wai, Tang Wei, Joan Chen
Watched on Kino Lorber blu-ray