Se, jie (2007)

Director:

Ang Lee

Writers:

Eileen Chang (story)
James Schamus (screenplay)

Release Date:

24 September 2007 (Taiwan)

Genre:

Drama | Romance | Thriller | War

Tagline:

To kill the enemy, she would have to capture his heart....and break her own.

Plot:

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.

Plot Keywords:

Woods | Female Full Frontal Nudity | Class Differences | Rifle | Mistress

Awards:

Nominated for Golden Globe. Another 13 wins & 22 nominations

Cast

Tony Leung Chiu Wai	...	Mr. Yee
Wei Tang	...	Wong Chia Chi / Mak Tai Tai
Joan Chen	...	Yee Tai Tai
Lee-Hom Wang	...	Kuang Yu Min
Chung Hua Tou	...	Old Wu
Chih-ying Chu	...	Lai Shu Jin
Ying-hsien Kao	...	Huang Lei
Yue-Lin Ko	...	Liang Jun Sheng
Johnson Yuen	...	Auyang Ling Wen / Mr. Mak
Kar Lok Chin	...	Tsao
Su Yan	...	Ma Tai Tai
Caifei He	...	Hsiao Tai Tai
Ruhui Song	...	Wang's Aunt
Anupam Kher	...	Khalid Saiduddin
Liu Jie	...	Leung Tai Tai

Also Known As:

Lust, Caution (USA)
Se jie (China: Mandarin title)

MPAA:

Rated NC-17 for some explicit sexuality; Rated R for strong sexual content and a scene of brutal violence (edited version).

Runtime:

157 min | 148 min (edited version)

Country:

USA | China | Taiwan | Hong Kong

Language:

Mandarin | Japanese | English | Hindi | Shanghainese | Cantonese

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Sound Mix:

DTS | Dolby Digital

Certification:

Argentina:18 | Australia:R | Hong Kong:III | Canada:18A (British Columbia/Ontario) | Norway:15 | Japan:R-18 | Ireland:18 | Italy:VM14 | Canada:R (Alberta/Manitoba) | USA:R (heavily cut version) | Taiwan:R-18 | Singapore:NC-16 (edited version) | Portugal:M/18 | Sweden:15 | USA:NC-17 | Philippines:R-18 | France:-12 | Singapore:R21 (re-release) (uncut) | Switzerland:16 (canton of Vaud) | Netherlands:16 | USA:TV-MA (TV rating) (uncut version) | South Korea:18 | UK:18 | Germany:16 | Canada:16+ (Quebec) | Malaysia:18PL (cut) | Switzerland:16 (canton of Geneva) | Finland:K-15

Filming Locations:

Hong Kong, China

Company:

Hai Sheng Film Production Company

Trivia:

The rather explicit sex scenes were shot over 11 days on a closed set, with only the main camera and sound personnel present.

Movie Connections:

References Destry Rides Again (1939)

Poignant depiction of turbulent wartime politics

I had been hyping myself up a great deal for Lust, Caution ever since I first heard of the project, so I'm glad to say that it did not disappoint. The film was a beautifully executed "espionage thriller," if you want to go with how it's being marketed to a broad audience. Steeped in the historically and culturally turbulent period of the second Sino-Japanese War, one must applaud Ang Lee for the dizzying array of minutiae he oversaw as director.

Because of the nature of the film's protagonist Wang Jiazhi (played by a newcomer named Tang Wei - not shabby for your first feature) as an agent working under a second identity to ensnare a dangerous collaborationist (Tony Leung), all the scenes where Wang masquerades as the bourgeois Ms. Mai are fraught with a psychological tension, doubling with the political agenda at stake as well as her womanhood. She portrays both roles with heartbreaking deftness; a great casting choice if there ever was one. While not as physically alluring as some of her competitors for the role - Chinese language actresses including Zhou Xun and Shu Qi - I don't think anyone else could have pulled it off like Tang. She convincingly transforms herself from a naive college girl to coy seductress...and back again.

The film struck quite a few personal nerves on my part too. While mainstream cinema should be, you know, self-sustaining or whatever you want to call it, there's really a lot to this movie that gets lost in subtitling to an extent, but also just in context and culture. Etiquette at the mah-jongg table; the omnipresent yet understated background of wartime occupation; political interests in the Chinese Civil War era; the weight of regional identity in dialects and interpersonal relationships. Tang Wei spoke Mandarin, Cantonese, and Shanghainese. My only thought is: What a hottie.

The sex scenes are...something else. As echoed by most critics, they serve the story perfectly in capturing the urgency that Tang and Leung have in their precarious affair. There's a lot of violence in them, and it is through these carnal and savage acts that Tony Leung's Mr. Yee character is established as a very dangerous man. I won't spoil too much but there were several times when it became too difficult to watch.

There were quite a few moments that made my heart flutter and eyes wobble. I'll just leave it at that.