Listen & Be Heard Weekly Archives

The latest film by director Ang Lee is a stylish, but languid thriller. Set in China during the Japanese occupation of World War II, Lust, Caution at one level seemed a study in patience and planning. Starring such big names as Joan Chen and Tony Leung, the story hops back and forth via flashbacks between Hong Kong and Shanghai. Members of a university drama group are recruited by the Chinese war resistance to assassinate targets who are collaborating with the Japanese empire. The resistance cell creates an elaborate scheme to get close to their designated target, learning his ways and habits, watching for an opportunity to assassinate him. The decision is made to introduce their best actress to the traitor?Äôs wife, the intent being to have her glean the necessary intel to leverage the killing strike. The mission stretches on, though, as the target?Äôs habits are cautious and his security is impeccable. Unexpectedly, the actress and the collaborator begin a torrid affair. The mission is interrupted, resuming in Shanghai several years later, including the relationship between the actress and the target, now serving as a sham government official in direct liaison with the Japanese.

Though a low key film action wise, Ang Lee?Äôs ability to convey emotion through close ups of the performer?Äôs faces was masterful. In turn, the performances were equally brilliant, a mainly Asian ensemble effort. The costume designer was excellent, fully rendering the western dress style seen in cinema made during the 1940?Äôs. The streets of Shanghai in Lust, Caution were well crafted, and the director of photography took full advantage of the opportunity to give the audience a visual experience of life from another era in history. The film is in Mandarin, with English subtitles. Let me warn you now: Lust, Caution is rated NC-17 because of explicit sexual scenes and nudity. The source material is a novella titled Se, Jei by Chinese-American author Eileen Chang, who obviously had a rich imagination and first hand experiences to draw upon. A translation became available this year by Julia Lovell, ISBN 978-0-307-38744-8.

The website for Lust, Caution:
http://www.focusfeatures.com/

The Wikipedia entry for Eileen Chang:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eileen_Chang

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