Official Movie Website Theatrical Release 09/28/07 (Limited) 10/12/07 (St. Louis) Home Video Not Available MPAA Rating Rated NC-17 for some explicit sexuality Running Time 2 hours 38 minutes Genre Drama, Suspense Director Ang Lee Writer Wang Hui-Ling, James Schamus Cast Tony Leung, Tang Wei, Joan Chen, Wang Lee Hom Studio Focus Features |
LUST, CAUTION (2007)
SYNOPSIS
The new film from Ang Lee, the Academy Award-
winning director of "Brokeback Mountain" and
"Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon." A startling
erotic espionage thriller about the fate of an
ordinary woman's heart, it is based on the short
story by revered Chinese author Eileen Chang, and
stars Asian cinema icon Tony Leung opposite
screen newcomer Tang Wei. Shanghai, 1942. The
World War II Japanese occupation of this Chinese
city continues in force. Mrs. Mak, a woman of
sophistication and means, walks into a café,
places a call, and then sits and waits. She
remembers…how her story began several years
earlier, in 1938 China. She is not in fact Mrs. Mak,
but shy Wong Chia Chi (Tang Wei). With WWII
underway, Wong has been left behind by her
father, who has escaped to England. As a
freshman at university, she meets fellow student
Kuang Yu Min (Wang Leehom) Kuang has started a
drama society to shore up patriotism. As the
theater troupe's new leading lady, Wong realizes
that she has found her calling, able to move and
inspire audiences – and Kuang. He convenes a
core group of students to carry out a radical and
ambitious plan to assassinate a top Japanese
collaborator, Mr. Yee (Tony Leung). Each student
The new film from Ang Lee, the Academy Award-
winning director of "Brokeback Mountain" and
"Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon." A startling
erotic espionage thriller about the fate of an
ordinary woman's heart, it is based on the short
story by revered Chinese author Eileen Chang, and
stars Asian cinema icon Tony Leung opposite
screen newcomer Tang Wei. Shanghai, 1942. The
World War II Japanese occupation of this Chinese
city continues in force. Mrs. Mak, a woman of
sophistication and means, walks into a café,
places a call, and then sits and waits. She
remembers…how her story began several years
earlier, in 1938 China. She is not in fact Mrs. Mak,
but shy Wong Chia Chi (Tang Wei). With WWII
underway, Wong has been left behind by her
father, who has escaped to England. As a
freshman at university, she meets fellow student
Kuang Yu Min (Wang Leehom) Kuang has started a
drama society to shore up patriotism. As the
theater troupe's new leading lady, Wong realizes
that she has found her calling, able to move and
inspire audiences – and Kuang. He convenes a
core group of students to carry out a radical and
ambitious plan to assassinate a top Japanese
collaborator, Mr. Yee (Tony Leung). Each student
© 2003 St. Louis Movie Review Weekly. All rights reserved, except where indicated.
All movie titles, pictures, etc...are the property of their respective studios.
All movie titles, pictures, etc...are the property of their respective studios.
| ST. LOUIS MOVIE REVIEW WEEKLY |
has a part to play; Wong will be Mrs. Mak, who will gain Yee's trust by befriending his wife (Joan Chen)
and then draw the man into an affair. Wong transforms herself utterly inside and out, and the scenario
proceeds as scripted – until an unexpectedly fatal twist spurs her to flee. Shanghai, 1941. With no end in
sight for the occupation, Wong – having emigrated from Hong Kong – goes through the motions of her
existence. Much to her surprise, Kuang re-enters her life. Now part of the organized resistance, he
enlists her to again become Mrs. Mak in a revival of the plot to kill Yee, who as head of the
collaborationist secret service has become even more a key part of the puppet government. As Wong
reprises her earlier role, and is drawn ever closer to her dangerous prey, she finds her very identity being
pushed to the limit...
--© Focus Features
and then draw the man into an affair. Wong transforms herself utterly inside and out, and the scenario
proceeds as scripted – until an unexpectedly fatal twist spurs her to flee. Shanghai, 1941. With no end in
sight for the occupation, Wong – having emigrated from Hong Kong – goes through the motions of her
existence. Much to her surprise, Kuang re-enters her life. Now part of the organized resistance, he
enlists her to again become Mrs. Mak in a revival of the plot to kill Yee, who as head of the
collaborationist secret service has become even more a key part of the puppet government. As Wong
reprises her earlier role, and is drawn ever closer to her dangerous prey, she finds her very identity being
pushed to the limit...
--© Focus Features