Lust, Caution (2007)

During World War II era, a young woman, Wang Jiazhi, gets swept up in a dangerous game of emotional intrigue with a powerful political figure, Mr. Yee.

Director:

Ang Lee

Writers:

Eileen Chang (story), James Schamus (screenplay)

Stars:

Tony Chiu-Wai Leung, Wei Tang, Joan Chen

Nominated for 1 Golden Globe. Another 25 wins & 51 nominations.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Tony Chiu-Wai Leung	...	Mr. Yee (as Tony Chiu Wai Leung)
Wei Tang	...	Wong Chia Chi / Mak Tai Tai
Joan Chen	...	Yee Tai Tai
Leehom Wang	...	Kuang Yu Min
Tsung-Hua To	...	Old Wu
Zhi-Ying Zhu	...	Lai Shu Jin (as Chih-ying Chu)
Ying-Hsuan Kao	...	Huang Lei
Lawrence Ko	...	Liang Jun Sheng (as Ko Yu-Luen)
Johnson Yuen	...	Auyang Ling Wen / Mr. Mak
Kar Lok Chin	...	Tsao
Yan Su	...	Ma Tai Tai
Saifei He	...	Hsiao Tai Tai
Ruhui Song	...	Wang's Aunt
Anupam Kher	...	Khalid Saiduddin
Jie Liu	...	Leung Tai Tai

Storyline

Frustrated in his attempts to assassinate Yee, who is an important official in Japanese-ruled Shanghai, Old Wu, who has lost his wife and two sons as well as two women who had attempted to seduce Yee, now recruits Kuang, Mai Tai Tai, and their troupe of drama students from Hong Kong University in yet another attempt to do away with Yee. Mai Tai Tai is chosen to befriend Yee, which she does by posing as the wife of Mak, befriending Yee's wife and her female friends, and then eventually befriending Yee himself. Even though both get together, they do end up going separate ways, only to meet again four years later. This time Mai is all set to entrap Yee at Chandni Chowk Jewellers which is owned by an East Indian man named Khalid Saiduddin. The question does remain: Will she and her troupe succeed?

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Plot Keywords:

female pubic hair | male pubic hair | female frontal nudity | female rear nudity | breasts | 

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Taglines:

To kill the enemy, she would have to capture his heart....and break her own.

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Genres:

Drama | History | Romance | Thriller | War

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Motion Picture Rating (MPAA)

Rated NC-17 for some explicit sexuality

Details

Official Sites:

Focus Features [United States] Official site [Japan]

Country:

USA China Taiwan

Language:

Mandarin Japanese English Shanghainese Hindi Cantonese

Release Date:

26 October 2007 (USA)

Also Known As:

Lust, Caution

Filming Locations:

Hong Kong, China

Box Office

Budget:

$15,000,000 (estimated)

Opening Weekend USA:

$63,918, 30 September 2007, Limited Release

Gross USA:

$4,602,512, 20 January 2008

Company Credits

Production Co:

Haishang Films, Focus Features, River Road Entertainment

Technical Specs

Runtime:

157 min 148 min (edited)

Sound Mix:

DTS Dolby Digital

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

The song Wang Jiazhi sings to Mr Yee is entitled "A Singing Girl at the Edge of the World," and it was the theme song of a popular film, Street Angel (1937), or "Malu Tianshi," released four years before the events in this film take place. The song is still considered an evergreen standard in Chinese pop music and has been covered by many other artists since.

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Goofs

When Mak Tai Tai approaches the coffee shop, she pauses in front of the door to look around. In the next scene, she is about 6 feet to the right of the door, and has to walk back toward it.

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Connections

References Penny Serenade (1941)

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Soundtracks

Intermezzo In a Opus 118 No.2: Andante Teneramente
Composed by Johannes Brahms
Performed by Alain Planes
(p) 2007 Decca Label Group

User Reviews

Cinematic, Elegant, Entertaining and Real 2 The Period

With a sensational cast of actors and a tale of China in the late 1930's under occupation, LUST, CAUTION captures the cruelty of the period with a zest and cinematic journey which enraptures the audience in a tale of revenge-and love. Bravo, Ang Lee, for bringing to the screen such a lustrous tale of Chinese history in which you have also thrown in love scenes which bring to the film an element of cruelty and harshness which are reminiscent of the sexual pleasures of BASIC INSTINCT, but perfectly display the brutal character of Mr. Yee.

The costumes, sets, lighting and the drama of the story make LUST, CAUTION a simply elegant journey with characters that jump off the screen with fury, passion and of course, love tinged with revenge. The film is long, but you can't take your eyes away from the film for one moment as you might miss the brilliant dialog and performances. LUST, CAUTION, makes you think of what it is to be occupied by a power that treats its captured denizens in a world of anger and bitterness and creates a world of hatred and revenge as we see in this intelligent and important film. May LUST, CAUTION continue to gain an audience as it heads into the Kudo season.