Lust, Caution: The art of sex

Lust, Caution released in 2007 and directed by the famous director Ang Lee. Based on the novel by Eileen Chang, it is set in Hong Kong and Shanghai during the Second World War, when they were occupied by Japan. In the film, a group of university students plans to assassinate Mr. Yee, a special agent working for the Japanese. Under their plan, the protagonist, Wong Chia Chi pretends to be the wife of a wealthy businessman. She inserts herself into his social circle and lures him into a honey trap. Their romantic relationship gradually grows, and Wong painfully struggles between her affection for Mr. Yee and the loyalty to the espionage agency.

(Souce: IMDb)

Although Lust, Caution was highly honored around the globe, it was controversial because of the explicit sex scenes. Only a cut version could be released in some countries and it was rated NC-17 in the United States. Yet, the sex scenes are deeply impressive as they portray the relationship between Wong and Mr. Yee vividly. In their first sex, Mr. Yee. bangs Wong against the wall and ties her up. The one-sided physical violence depicts his complete control in their relationship and the intelligence mission. Later, they love each other, but their sex relationship is not consensual. Mr. Yee once squeezes Wong’s body, so her upper body is pressed by her own legs. Wong can hardly breathe as she is under the forces from both Mr. Yee and herself, instead of simply being hurt by Mr. Yee. It conveys a strong sense of oppression, symbolising Wong’s conflicting emotions. She acknowledges Mr. Yee’s sexual violence and the inappropriacy to love him. However, she cannot stop herself from doing so, and needs to painfully suppress the fondness for him. The explicitness of the sex scene creates a powerful visual impact, thus hitting the audience’s emotions like a strong punch with a mixture of romance, brutality and misery.

Apart from the sex, the scenes about playing ‘mahjong’ are remarkable. Mahjong is a traditional tile-based game in China. As mentioned in the film, it was the only entertainment of the high-ranking officers’ wives at that time since they shall stay at home and know nothing about their husbands’ political mission. Wong always plays mahjong with the other wives in order to befriend them. Most of the shots about playing mahjong are short. They switch between the tiles of each wife, their movements of giving out the tiles and facial expression rapidly. At the same time, they chat casually about their favourite restaurants and textiles. On one hand, the fast-cutting shots creates a strong sense of tension which comes from both the game and their husbands’ hidden roles. On the other hand, the irrelevant conversation hides their actual characters and shows how hypocritical they are. The chemistry between the editing and script brings the audience into the world of spying, full of mystery and deception.

(Source: Slant Magazine)

Lust, Caution is undoubtedly a masterpiece with outstanding cinematography, editing and script. More importantly, it is a good novel adaptation which delivers the key element of the original story, which is merging the characters’ experience with the historical background. The movie depicts the fall of Hong Kong and Shanghai in the war. There are corpses everywhere, starvation and puppet government ruling the cities. In such a tragedy, people’s emotions and minds ‘fall’ as well. The university students fall into the narrow-minded patriotism, and Wong falls into the abnormal love for Mr. Yee. The more she is hurt, the more she loves him. Falling into the struggle between the conflicting identities as a lover and spy, she loses her true self at last.

The theme of falling will never be outdated. Nowadays, there are people leaving their beloved one because of war, or marrying somebody they do not like because of poverty or inequality. Under wars, sudden political changes or suppressions, we are all nobodies who can control and decide nothing. Therefore, Lust, Caution is definitely a great movie that impresses the audience with pain and anxiety, and ends with a touch of sadness and hopelessness.