Lust, Caution (2007)
"Se, jie" (original title)

An espionage thriller set in WWII-era Shanghai, in which a young woman, Wang Jiazhi, gets swept up in a dangerous game of emotional intrigue with a powerful political figure, Mr. Yee.

Director:

Ang Lee

Writers:

Eileen Chang (story), James Schamus (screenplay),

Stars:

Tony Leung Chiu Wai, Wei Tang, Joan Chen

Nominated for 1 Golden Globe. Another 14 wins & 26 nominations.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Tony Leung Chiu Wai	...	Mr. Yee
Wei Tang	...	Wong Chia Chi / Mak Tai Tai
Joan Chen	...	Yee Tai Tai
Leehom Wang	...	Kuang Yu Min
Chung-Hua Tou	...	Old Wu
Chih-ying Chu	...	Lai Shu Jin
Ying-hsien Kao	...	Huang Lei
Lawrence Ko	...	Liang Jun Sheng (as Ko Yu-Luen)
Johnson Yuen	...	Auyang Ling Wen / Mr. Mak
Kar Lok Chin	...	Tsao
Yan Su	...	Ma Tai Tai
Saifei He	...	Hsiao Tai Tai
Ruhui Song	...	Wang's Aunt
Anupam Kher	...	Khalid Saiduddin
Jie Liu	...	Leung Tai Tai

Storyline

Frustrated in his attempts to assassinate Yee, who is an important official in Japanese-ruled Shanghai, Old Wu, who has lost his wife and two sons as well as two women who had attempted to seduce Yee, now recruits Kuang, Mai Tai Tai, and their troupe of drama students from Hong Kong University in yet another attempt to do away with Yee. Mai Tai Tai is chosen to befriend Yee, which she does by posing as the wife of Mak, befriending Yee's wife and her female friends, and then eventually befriending Yee himself. Even though both get together, they do end up going separate ways, only to meet again four years later. This time Mai is all set to entrap Yee at Chandni Chowk Jewellers which is owned by an East Indian man named Khalid Saiduddin. The question does remain: Will she and her troupe succeed?

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Plot Keywords:

student | hong kong | china | resistance | play | 

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Taglines:

The Trap is Set.

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Genres:

Drama | Romance | Thriller | War

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Motion Picture Rating (MPAA)

Rated NC-17 for some explicit sexuality

Details

Official Sites:

Focus Features [us] Official site [jp]

Country:

USA China Taiwan Hong Kong

Language:

Mandarin Japanese English Hindi Shanghainese Cantonese

Release Date:

24 September 2007 (Taiwan)

Also Known As:

Lust, Caution

Filming Locations:

Hong Kong, China

Box Office

Budget:

$15,000,000 (estimated)

Opening Weekend:

£240,665 (UK) (4 January 2008)

Gross:

£744,417 (UK) (18 January 2008)

Company Credits

Production Co:

Hai Sheng Film Production Company, Shanghai Film Group, Focus Features

Technical Specs

Runtime:

157 min 148 min (edited)

Sound Mix:

DTS Dolby Digital

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

The Taiwanese Government Information Office (GIO) awarded the Taiwan-born director Ang Lee and his Haishang Films company each with NT$10 million (US$303,000) on 25 September 2007. This is for Lee's winning of the Golden Lion top prize at the 2007 Venice Festival. Lee, however, donated the money to help junior directors and artists to make more outstanding films.

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Goofs

In the opening scenes in Shanghai, Wong is driven in Mrs Yee's Buick, which must be a 1942 model. A "gunsight" hood ornament is clearly seen. That ornament was not used until 1948. Also, the grille of the car changes from one with bars overlapping the front bumper to one with the bars entirely enclosed. The 1942 Buick did not have bars that overlapped the bumper.

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Connections

Referenced in Tiles of Deception, Lurid Affections: The Making of 'Lust, Caution' (2008)

User Reviews

More incredible film-making from Ang Lee

What a movie. I saw this movie yesterday and I'm still thinking about it. Tony Leung is just awesome. I had seen him in a few movies, I'd already determined that he's a great actor. I have no problem understanding what's going on with him without reading the subtitles because he communicates so much with his eyes. So watching him in this I was curious to see that something else was coming across than you'd normally expect. Here he's playing against type and I thought he did a wonderful job. Definitely Oscar worthy. As is his costar, who I kept trying to rack my brain for a film I'd seen her in but apparently she's a newbie. You'd never know it from her performance. It's a true leading performance since she carries most of the film being in just about every minute of it. She's great. And how great was it to see Josie Packard (Joan Chen) again. :)

Ang Lee is a genius. He's so good at capturing the emotions of his characters and actors. It's like he unfolds them so that everything on the inside is laid bare. From The Ice Storm to Brokeback Mountain to Lust, Caution he shows you real people and how they love and damage and betray each other, and more specifically how it feels. That's true talent. Anyone can point a camera. This is something else entirely.

The film itself is the best espionage film I've ever seen, but that's not all it is. It's very much like a noir and a war film and romance is probably the genre that is represented least. I've read a few reviews mentioning love and falling in it. There is some of that but I think maybe those people might want to give this one another go. They might have missed the point.

Who should see this? Adults. But I'm not saying that because of the sex scenes. I'm 33. I don't know if I would have completely grasped the emotional complexity of this film 10 years ago. I think you need to have been kicked around a bit by life to fully appreciate what's happening here. Anyone who likes old movies, sad movies, good movies. Bogart fans, noir fans, costume design fans should all enjoy it. I sincerely hope it gets some recognition around Oscar time. It's my favorite this year so far.