Movie Review: Lust, Caution

SPOILER ALERT! - I talk about the ending of this movie here - so turn away if you don't want to know what happens in the end.

Last night I finally saw a movie I'd been wanting to see for a while, Ang Lee's Lust, Caution. Set in the era when the Japanese were occupying China in 1942, it basically tells the story of a group of Chinese revolutionary students who use one of their members to seduce a high-ranking official with the hopes of killing him.

This movie has had a lot of buzz in Hong Kong not only because of it's famous director Ang Lee (of Brokeback Mountain and Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon fame), but mostly because of its graphic sex scenes. I would have to agree that the sex scenes in the movie were probably the most graphic sex scenes I've seen in any mainstream movie, ever. So it makes sense that this would be a bit controversial in Hong Kong (and Asia in general) because of the general sense of censorship in Hong Kong.

For example, in my apartment on my TV package I currently have 6 different HBO channels that I pay extra money for. However, I've seen movies on these channels that I've seen in the USA, and for some reason they dub over or take out completely swears and any potentially graphic violence or sex/nude scene. That's right people - I can safely say that I have not heard any (English) swears on any movie that I've watched on any of my 6 HBO channels since I arrived in HK nearly 7 months ago. Weird, eh?

But back to my short review of Lust, Caution - as my movie companion agreed, the movie was pretty good and entertaining and all, and the sex scenes were pretty good (if that's your sort of thing), but really nothing happened in the movie. Basically the whole time this group of students was trying to kill this guy, and in the end they fail. That's it - the whole 2.5 hours detailed the girl seducing this guy, and then she and her plotters all die at the end. Visually, they did a good job depicting the time period and it was kinda cool for me because the whole movie they spoke Mandarin and Shanghainese so I got to try and pick out some Mandarin words (there were English subtitles).

So yes I would recommend seeing this movie because it's controversial and visually stunning, but just don't expect a complicated plotline, because it just isn't there. Watching this movie is kind of like the opposite of watching the movie Wild Things for the first time.

(Side note for those not in HK - movie theater seats here in HK are like airline seats - you choose the ones you want when making the booking (online or in person). So no need to arrive early - your pre-chosen seats will be waiting for you!)