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Underground > Film, TV & Theatre >

Lust, Caution

12:33 / 05.02.08

"Lust, Caution" is set in China during the WWII occupation by the Japanese. It follows a group of students whose drama group progresses from staging patriotic plays to full on resistance work against the collaborators.

The central character Wei Tang is recruited as a spy to seduce and hopefully kill the head of the secret service, in collaboration ith the Japanese, responsible for crushing the resistance.

Mr Yee ,her target, is a middle aged married man with an unnervingly calm manner and a constant awareness of the precariousness of his role. He refuses to go to the cinema because of the darkness. He never goes anywhere an assasination might be possible.

Their sexual relationship is fierce with the first occasion where Wei Tang should seduce him turning almost in to a rape scene.

The relationships between the characters are interesting. Lust in Chinese apparently isn't just a sexual thing it can be a rabid love for anything that becomes too much and contans the seed for harm. That might be the lust to do good, through serving the country.

So lust plays out in a few ways. The lust between Wei Tang and Mr Yee, the lust for her co-revolutionary and college crush for his country.

Um, yeah. I enjoyed this film. Anyone else seen it?

12:58 / 05.02.08

Yeah, seen it, thought it was great. Very long and slow but manages to stay gripping and tense all the way. Touching at times as well.

Their sexual relationship is fierce with the first occasion where Wei Tang should seduce him turning almost in to a rape scene.

I reckon I would leave the word almost out of that sentence. I actually thought that scene was a bit too much, when he starts smashing her head against the wall it seems to be completely unsexual (my girlfriend thought at first that he had discovered what she was up to). It seems almost unbelievable that she would come back for more after that and that he would accept that as normal (by which I mean not be suspicious).

Lust in Chinese apparently isn't just a sexual thing it can be a rabid love for anything that becomes too much and contans the seed for harm. That might be the lust to do good, through serving the country.

Ah, that’s interesting, I didn’t know that and wondered what the title was trying to get across, thanks.

All Acting Regiment

13:25 / 05.02.08

As a film it was very good, altohugh I did have some reservations about this and some other films which I typed up a while back. I'll try and find them and see what you all think.

18:45 / 05.02.08

"Ah, that’s interesting, I didn’t know that and wondered what the title was trying to get across, thanks."

Yeah, I read that in an article:

"The psychology of sex comes from a western approach, but 'lust' in Chinese means not just lust for sex but lust for life and also colour. It's a projection of your own desire, of your own point of view, your motivation. But you have to be careful, because any passion - sex, or a lust for being good, such as patriotism - will make fools of us. Caution, however, is rational. So the title Lust, Caution is in the same realm as Sense and Sensibility - and Se, jie is also the symbol of the ring, the diamond ring, the boundaries of love."

http://www.bfi.org.uk/sightandsound/feature/49419

How do you think she really felt about Mr Yee? She tells him "I hate you", to which he answers "I believe you." But She ends up saving him (and killing herself and all her friends). Why did she do that?

21:57 / 05.02.08

Well that's the movie spoiled then.

01:50 / 06.02.08

A spoiled Lust, Caution is still infinitely better than virtually any unspoiled movies that might provoke thousand page discussions on Barbelith.

07:37 / 06.02.08

”Well that's the movie spoiled then.”

If it’s any consolation the film is less about what happens than how it happens.

How do you think she really felt about Mr Yee? She tells him "I hate you", to which he answers "I believe you."

Well, that’s the centre of the film really isn’t it? I guess she loves him and hates him as well really. I suppose the point is that it’s a battle between the effects of the way that she has always been (or at least since school when she rather lightly signed up to a radical group), and a short and incredibly intense relationship that she fools herself to believe is only based on hatred. I think that is captured extremely well by the actress (don’t know her name), almost without saying anything – a great performance.

09:01 / 06.02.08

(Sorry for any spoilers - got carried away - enjoyed this film!)

Yeah, I think she does love him and that turns out to be entirely destructive. She wants love from the hunk at college, but he only loves his country (lust to be good - nationalism). Near the end when they kiss "why didn't you do this years ago."

It seems she is in love with Mr Yee otherwise how else explain her complete betrayal of everything.

No one loves her though. College stud loves the country. Mr Yee loves power, lusts after sex. Se, jie the original title is also the symbol of the diamond ring, the boundaries of love.

09:13 / 06.02.08

No one loves her though. College stud loves the country. Mr Yee loves power, lusts after sex.

Not sure that I agree with that - maybe I do in the case of the patriotic college guy (although I think you could argue that he realises too late that he loves her, perhaps still not as much as his country though...), but surely Mr Yee also comes to genuinely feel for her. Isn't that the point of the gift of the ring - which in turn brings her to examine their situation and her own feelings?

20:45 / 07.02.08

I want to comment on the film in more depth later, but for now I'll just say this.

Pulled up on torrent, seen it yesterday. The guy who did the subtitles did a excelent job, but suddenly in the middle of those tense scenes that huge white dog appears, and out of nowhere bold italic subtitles scream out CUTE DOG!!!!!.

Now who the hell does that? I kept waiting for it to go "OH YEAH! LOOK AT THEM GO!" during the sex scenes or to comment on what's happening ("THAT DUDE IS UPTIGHT!"/ "OH NO HE DIDN'T!")... I kept gigling like an idiot throughout the rest of the film.

But I really enjoy it. Hope to comment something more useful later on.