LUST, CAUTION (SE, JIE)
In World War Two Shanghai, It's Red Light, Red Light
PopcornReel.com Movie Review: "Lust, Caution" ("Se, Jie")
By Omar P.L. Moore/October 13, 2007
Smoke Without Mirrors, Heat Without Warmth: Tang Wei as
Wang Tai Tai and Tony Leung Chui Wai as Mak Tei Tei in Ang Lee's epic "Lust, Caution",
the NC-17 rated film now expanding its release across North America.
(Photos: Chan Kam Chuen via Focus Features)
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Ang Lee's "Se, Jie", also known as "Lust, Caution", is a long, sometimes intense
epic drama about a reluctant spy who is supposed to bring down a government police
investigator in China as part of the resistance movement to the changes in the
Dynastic Empire in the early 1900's. Art-wise, Mr. Lee's film is
spectacular but the story isn't compelling enough to warrant one's hard-earned
money for an admission ticket. The film opened late last month in New York
and Los Angeles, and has expanded its release in San Francisco and other U.S.
cities, and will continue to do so over the next few weeks. Mr. Lee's epic
also opened this month's Mill Valley Film Festival.
Newcomer Tang Wei is impressive as Wang Tai Tai, a spy whose is drafted by
members of her school drama class to fall in love with Tony Leung Chui Wai's
investigative minister character Mr. Yee. The two of them onscreen together are
like fire and ice -- and then fire and fire -- as they dance dangerously and
vigorously. The passion they share explodes so deeply that at
times it's claustrophobic. While "Lust, Caution" will be
remembered for its ferocious sexual gymnastics and lovemaking positions many
viewers will be surprised to know existed, the bottom line is that the film isn't
especially memorable in the way of story development. Several questions
can conveniently be asked, such as how and why does Wang Tai Tai
fall in with the Resistance? The credibility of scenes showing Ms. Wei's assent to such murderous designs are
lacking and thus underdeveloped; there isn't a
sufficient look at her background or even a trace of why she would fall in with
a rebellious group. A film needn't give detailed exposition for this -- that
would be a cop-out. What is required however, is a semblance of
understanding, which isn't completely evident here. James Schamus and
Hui-Ling Wang adapted the short story by Eileen Chang for the big screen, but
apparently didn't give further detail to the characters, particularly the
members of the Resistance, who scheme to make Mr. Leung Chui Wai (excellent
here as the desperately lonely and repressed military investigator Yee) a thing of the
past.
Granted, the cinematography (Rodrigo Prieto) is exquisite, as are some of the exchanges between
Wei and Leung -- the subtlety of their interactions are captured in classic
minimalism and an inanimate state of being that is numbing. Sometimes
watching wordless exchanges between them brings the feeling that you can see
right through both their characters yet can't get any closer to truly knowing
them any more than you could a political leader or entertainment personality that you
admire the most. Maybe this is the unsettling affect that Mr. Lee wished
to achieve, or that the novel aimed for. Having not read Ms. Chang's
short story it would be disingenuous to speculate much. Still, even
after two hours and 38 minutes it is clear that "Lust, Caution" needed a more
compelling all-around story to befit its elongated running time. A film
that takes such liberties with time should at least investigate the situations
involving the significant and supporting characters more deeply -- and,
dare it be said, sincerely -- than Mr. Lee's film, an occasionally beautiful but underwhelming
drama, ultimately does.
"Lust, Caution" ("Se, Jie") is rated NC-17 by the Motion
Picture Association of America for some explicit sexuality, which includes
female full frontal nudity. It should be noted that the film contains one
graphically violent scene midway through -- a protracted scene of bloody violence that lasts for about four
minutes. Be warned. A warning also about the running time,
especially if you have a short attention span: two hours and 38 minutes.
The film is in Mandarin, Japanese and English with English subtitles.
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