Grade: B+
If you're not going to admit it, I will. I only rented this movie because of all the conversation about sex. Come on. NC-17 rating and it has the excuse of Ang Lee to go with it. The 12-year old rebel inside of me went along right with it.
But my adult, movie-loving self took over and has now become of the year's bigger surprises. In fact, the only part of me that left disappointed was that preteen, for the sex scenes were more disturbing than anything else (and not just because of the woman's armpit hair). But that was part of Ang Lee's goal -- one of the few films along the Unfaithful lines of using sex to build tension, anguish, and regret.
The story is about a group of college students rebelling against China's puppet government, and decides to concoct a plan to assassinate a top official. They soon find out the plan not only takes longer than expected, but requires more sacrifice -- a woman's heart. That woman played by newcomer Tang Wei was chosen out of 10,000 women, but she's a pro at her work, a prodigy in the making.
Tony Leung Chui Wai gives another winning performance (and at this point, do you expect anything less from the man). I'm not sure I've ever felt so strongly (positively or negatively) towards such a stoic cahracter.
It's not a great film that I would consider watching again in the next few years, but I will say this. Lust, Caution is more evidence of Ang Lee's gift for making cinematically beautiful films in the face of a tragic, heart-wrenching story. Sure, it ranks below Crouching Tiger and Brokebackfor most people, but I find very little distinction here. Maybe it's because I went into this film with far lower expectations than the other two, but I left all three feeling the same way: I cared about the characters deeply, but didn't know how much my heart was invested in them till the finale.
Similar to the protagonist. That's poetic filmmaking at its best.
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