Lust, Caution (2007)

Playing a role can be dangerous, especially when the line between performance and real feeling begins to disappear. Ang Lee's "Lust, Caution," his follow-up to "Brokeback Mountain," which earned him an Oscar for Best Director, continues his exploration of people bound by a passion that could destroy them, though this time in a very different setting. Adapted from a novella by Eileen Chang, it takes place in China during the Japanese occupation of World War II and centers on Wong Chia Chi (Tang Wei), a young student actress who joins a small group of university patriots, led by the idealistic Kuang Yu Min (Leehom Wang), plotting to assassinate Mr. Yee (Tony Leung), a powerful official in the collaborationist government who oversees the torture and execution of resistance fighters. Posing as the wife of a wealthy businessman, Chia Chi works her way into the circle of Yee's sophisticated wife (Joan Chen). Flashbacks reveal how she came to join the cause: her acting talent is her greatest asset, and her mission is to play the part of Yee's lover, in every sense. Their story unfolds largely through their intimate relationship, which begins with violence and gradually shifts along with their feelings, moving from pain and fear toward a kind of desperate connection. The film's frank, explicit love scenes became famous, yet they never feel exploitative. The nature of their bond, rather than the physical act, is the point. Chia Chi falls for the man she's meant to kill, but she knows there's no stopping the mission, and the ever-present danger that everything could collapse for both of them provides the story's "caution." Lee's direction and Rodrigo Prieto's cinematography are masterful, and every scene is beautiful. The pace does grow languid at times, and you may wonder why Lee draws things out at the expense of the crucial climactic moments. Still, it's a superb piece of storytelling that further cements Lee's place as a master of films about the struggle to remain human in an inhuman world. It won the Golden Lion at the Venice Film Festival.