Ang Lee’s new limited-release film, Lust, Caution (Focus Features, Oct. 5), is hard to love, and maybe like; but liked or loathed, labor is lost looking to love Lust. However, it does have its lumisnescence.
Set variously in Japanese-occupied Shanghai and Hong Kong during World War II, Lust concocts the perfect ’40s noir with a cultural flair of its own.
The vibrant sets and costumes alone justify a ticket purchase, but to see the palpable tension between two foreign cultures from long ago is reason enough to stay, particularly for history buffs.
Styles and themes in Lust only color the background, however.
Lee focuses our attention on Wong Chia Chi (ingénue Tang Wei), a woman pulled toward the intrigue of patriot-catalyzed espionage. Wong’s journey begins bereft of a traveling father and looking for connection. She finds it in a small Hong Kong theatre troupe and its idealist leader, Kuang Yumin (singer Lee Wang), who later influences her to join a plot to assassinate a Japanese government consort, Mr. Yee (Tony Leung Hero, 2046).
Long story short, Wong eventually becomes very close to Yee and is absorbed into his violent world.
The title Lust, Caution is no coincidence. Extended scenes in the film are sexually graphic and, at times, their purpose is questionable, rendering Lust an NC-17 rating and limited release in American movie theaters.
It can be difficult to write off a well-qualified and respected director’s intentions based on a rating, however.
Wong transforms uncontrollably into a conspirator, of sorts, with Yee. Lee edits the scenes in order for the audience to feel uncomfortable and confused, trying to find some meaning in the action, just as Wong does in trying to maintain her role.
The rating is a point of contention between critics and director Lee.
James Schamus, co-screenwriter of the film with Hui-Ling Wang and longtime collaborator on such notable projects as Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon and Brokeback Mountain, told the Hollywood Reporter website in the Aug. 24 issue: “The MPAA has screened the film now and made its decision, and we’re comfortable with that . [Lee] knows exactly what he wants to realize and achieve in filming any given sequences, and he made the final decisions on how to stage, frame, shoot and edit them.”
The beginning of the film is surprisingly amusing, albeit strained and drawn-out, but if stylish intrigue and subtle suspense are your métier, then you will be pleased with the second half. That is, presuming you can stomach all 2 hours and 38 minutes of the film.
So, take caution with Lust. It may require multiple viewings for those entranced by its erotic drama, but the faint of heart and easily distracted may find that it loses its luster too soon.
