Lust, Caution [Blu-ray]

Director: Ang Lee Ang Lee

Overview

Academy Award-winning director Ang Lee adapts this Eileen Chang story set in World War II-era Shanghai that details the political intrigue surrounding a powerful political figure named Mr. Yee (Tony Leung) in Japanese-occupied Shanghai. Spanning the late '30s and early '40s, the movie introduces us to Hong Kong teen Wong Chia Chi (Tang Wei), a shy college freshman who finds her calling in a drama society devoted to patriotic plays. But the troupe's leader, Kuang Yu Min (Wang Leehom), isn't just a theater maven -- he's a revolutionary as well, and he's devoted to carrying out a bold plan to assassinate top Japanese collaborator Mr. Yee. Each student has an important role to play, and Wong puts herself in a dangerous position as Mrs. Mak; she befriends Mr. Yee's wife (Joan Chen), and slowly gains trust before tempting him into an affair. While at first the plan goes exactly as scripted, things suddenly take a deadly turn and Wong is emigrated from Hong Kong. Later, in 1941, the occupation shows no signs of ceasing and Wong is simply drifting through her days in Shanghai. Much to her surprise, the former actress finds Kuang requesting that she resume the role of Mrs. Mak. Now, as Wong again gains intimate access to her dangerous prey, she must struggle with her own identity in order to pull off the performance of a lifetime.

Product Details

Release Date:	07/30/2008
UPC:	8809192642317
Original Release:	2007
Rating:	R
Source:	Ais
Language:	English
Time:	2:35:00

Cast & Crew

Performance Credits

Tony Leung Chiu-Wai	Mr. Yee
Joan Chen	Yee Tai-tai
Leehom Wang	Kuang Yu-min,Actor
Tou Chung-Hua	Old Wu
Yan Su	Ma Tai-tai
Johnson Yuen	Auyang Ling-wen/Mr. Mak
He Sai-fe	Hsiao Tai-tai
Kar Lok Chin	Tsao
Anupam Kher	Jewerly Shop Manager
Wei Tang	Wong Chia Chi / Mak Tai Tai
Zhi-Ying Zhu	Lai Shu Jin
Ying-Hsuan Kao	Huang Lei
Lawrence Ko	Liang Jun Sheng
Ruhui Song	Wang's Aunt
Akiko Takeshita	Japanese Tavern Boss Lady
Hayato Fujiki	Japanese Colonel Sato
Shayam Pathak	Jewelry Shopkeeper
Yu Qun	Female Ping-Tan Singer
Yat-Tung Lau	HKU Theater Audience
Yu Lai Cheng	HKU Theater Audience (female)
Yuji Kojima	Japanese Commander Taicho
Anys Fatnassi	New Kiessling Cafe Waiter
Tang Ya Jun	Tricycle Cab Waiter
Shi Hong	Woman at Police Line
Deng Wei	Prostitute in Brothel,Mak Tai Tai
Li Dou	Old Man at Bookstore
Lisa Lu	Mahjong partner of Aunt
Jacob J Ziacan	Western student
Chu Tsz-ying	Actor
Kao Hsuan	Huang Lei
Ko Yu Lien	Liang Jun Sheng
Su Yan	Ma Tai Tai
Song Ru Hui	Wang's Aunt
Fan Kuang-yao	Secretary Chang
Lisa Yen Lu	Mahjong Partner of Aunt
Liu Jie	Leung Tai Tai
Yu Ya	Chu Tai Tai
Wang Lin	Liao Tai Tai
Hua Dong	Whangai Yee's Amah
Wang Kan	Mr. Yee's Chauffeur
Song Jian Hua	Yee Tai Tai's Chauffeur
Takesita Akiko	Japanese Tavern Boss Lady
Fujki Hayato	Japanese Colonel Sato
Seto Masumi	Geisha in Japanese Tavern
Koyama Noriko	Musician in Japanese Tavern
Gu Zhang-Ping	Hong Kong Tailor
Gao Bo-Wen	Male Ping-Tan Singer
Lau Yat Tung	Male HKU Theater Audience
Lai Yuk Ching	Female HKU Theater Audience
Mizogomi Yoko	Japanese Teacher
Minamikata Fumika	Japanese Tavern Waitress
Alexandre Desplat	Conductor,Composer

Technical Credits

James Schamus

Hui-Ling Wang

Eileen Chang

Wang Hui-Ling

Ang Lee	Director,Producer
Bill Kong	Producer
James Schamus	Producer,Screenwriter
Ren Zhonglun	Executive Producer
Darren Shaw	Executive Producer
Hui-Ling Wang	Screenwriter
Eileen Chang	Screenwriter
Zhonglun Ren	Executive Producer
Doris Tse	Producer
Leslie Bloom	Sound Effects
Mark Filip	Sound Effects
Eugene Gearty	Sound Effects,Sound/Sound Designer
Choi Shun Fai	Executive Producer
Wang Hui-Ling	Screenwriter
Vicky Lee Lim Loo	Casting
Nishimoto Ryuji	Casting
Song Dai	Executive Producer
Au Wing Hin	Stunts
Leung Pok Yan	Stunts
Louis Leung Jong Chi	Key Grip
Chi Shui Tim	Special Effects
Rosanna Ng	Casting
Huang Kai Sen	Stunts
Ng Wing Lun	Stunts
Wch Ang Peng	Stunts
Drew Kunin	Sound/Sound Designer
Philip Stockton	Sound/Sound Designer

Editorial Reviews

The graphic sex in Ang Lee's Lust, Caution made its NC-17 rating a foregone conclusion, given the MPAA's tendency to blush over the slightest hint of pubic hair. However, without wanting to legislate how an artist expresses himself, one wonders if toning down the sex might have brought this engrossing and epic spy film to a wider audience. Because of a few minutes of gymnastic intercourse, many viewers were deprived the two-plus hours of schemes and machinations related to the assassination of a high-ranking Chinese traitor during the Japanese occupation of China. But Lee's film doesn't function merely as a fascinating procedural on covert operations by freedom fighters; it also explores the moral and emotional consequences of entrenching with the enemy. As Mak Tai Tai, Tang Wei makes a perfectly conflicted central figure, charged with luring Mr. Yee (Tony Leung) by whatever means necessary. Lust, Caution makes it painfully clear that the resistance leadership is just as callous and unyielding as this cruel Japanese collaborator, refusing to think twice about prostituting Mak Tai Tai to achieve the desired outcome. Her tragedy is twofold. Not only did she join the revolution for the love of the very man who's asking her to ruin herself, but by dangling out there for so long, while the leadership squanders opportunities in order to stockpile intelligence, she ends up developing genuine feelings for Yee. And here the need for intense sex scenes becomes clear. The comingling of bodies symbolizes how the lines have blurred between performance and reality, how Mak Tai Tai can no longer dispassionately doom a lover she never even wanted. The film is filled with superb performances and wonderfully observed details, and Lee's camera misses nothing. In this world of calculation and deception, even the shuffling of mahjong tiles has ominous overtones.