I don’t even know where to begin with this masterfully crafted filmgasm. Ang Lee is a genius when it comes to his movies, save for The Hulk (I mean, what the hell was up with that?!). This particular film is just brimming with images that haunt your dreams and slowly make their way into real life. No other director could have harnessed such a gigantic task of taking this “heavy script” and making it the audience’s own personal emotional baggage.
Now, I do not mean to throw such important words around just because this is a film by the great Ang Lee. I could easily say, “Fuck Ang Lee” as I could say, “Fuck Steven Spielberg.” I can’t hold any personal attachment to these people, great as they may be, for they are only human.
But THIS film .. this film .. it will leave you breathless and .. changed. Lee has weaved the reserved emotions, that we Asians have mastered, and the crass-ness of reality or the how dark the world truly is: a quick, and almost invisible, side ward glance and sex with no pretenses, no trimmings, no lies; beaten and weeping beings or one that is perfectly calm and attuned to a destiny that has been chosen long ago; a planned-out assassination attempt and a cruel encounter that is as unpolished as a brick.
Mad props go to Wei Tang, the lead actress. See how in the span of 10 seconds, her eyes change from fury to compassion to indifference to an internal torment all while being assaulted by a man she was taught to despise, and that is just the beginning. The story itself makes your question where her power comes from or how she is able to draw on this without being broken into a million pieces. And for what? For the unspoken love of a man who willingly put her in danger? For honor to a country bound like a common whore? For fame, fortune, riches, and glory? Or perhaps, for her own self? The story of a woman who never did anything half-heartedly. If she was to love, then she was to love completely and owed to see this thing through. Don’t even get me started on Tony Leung’s character, a man so cautious and wary of infiltration only to be won over a little girl .. a man who played a role his whole life just to be able to live towered by an act that swallowed the both of them whole. Or a winning scene where it was a kiss three years too late or words that needed to be said that weren’t. Heartbreaking, really. If I still had a heart, I prolly would’ve bawled over that. But I don’t. So I didn’t.
Lee does not romance you with a neat, classic tale. Not with this one. As quiet as the movie may seem, the meat lies in the explosion of subtext all over the screen. I can see how others may see this as “long and lifeless” without a payoff in the end. But I promise you, that if you take it in, minute by minute and immerse yourself in every particular scene, the ending won’t matter much, because by then, the experience has just won you over.
There are far better people who can laud this movie for me:
“A brooding meditation on the unnerving power and terrible cost of emotional and political masquerades, the Chinese-language Lust, Caution gets under your skin with its examination of what qualifies as love and what does not.” <more>
“Oscar-winning director Ang Lee’s new film, Lust, Caution, is such a challenging, defiant film that you leave it feeling slapped around, but at the same time exhilarated by Lee’s boldness.” <more>
“Lee has outsexed Paul Verhoeven. (Who would have imagined that Michael Douglas and Sharon Stone’s f— of the century could look so tame?)” <more>
Enough of the reviews and all these words. Your turn to go out and see it. I urge you. How to enjoy this movie: If there was ever a time to read in between the lines, go crazy in this movie. Because I guarantee you that it will only change you if you strip yourself of the pretenses and dialog (with whomever or whatever is inconsequential). For those who like to have things spelled out for them, this might be a $2-steak in your windpipe. Forget it and walk away. Watch something more .. chew-able, like, Balls of Fury or Superbad. All the subtext make this a more powerful movie than what it starts out to be. Don’t let the obvious hamper you from seeing the implied.
