Aspect Ratio: 1.85:1
Audience Rating: R (Restricted)
Binding: DVD
Brand: Universal
EAN: 0025195028950
Format: AC-3
Item Dimensions: Array
Label: Universal Studios
Languages: Array
Manufacturer: Universal Studios
MPN: MCAD62103667D
Number Of Items: 1
Publisher: Universal Studios
Region Code: 1
Release Date: 2008-02-19
Running Time: 155
Studio: Universal Studios
Theatrical Release Date: 2007

Provocative, thrilling and sensual, Lust, Caution is the daring new film from acclaimed Academy Award®-winning director Ang Lee (Brokeback Mountain; Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon). Set against the backdrop of a transforming country, a young woman finds herself swept up in a radical plot to assassinate a ruthless and secretive intelligence agent. As she immerses herself in her role as a cosmopolitan seductress, she becomes entangled in a dangerous game of emotional intrigue, love and betrayal.
Lust, Caution, Ang Lee's follow up to Brokeback Mountain, for which he won the Academy Award® for Best Director, continues his exploration of people with a passion for each other trapped in a world where their passion could be life-threatening, but in a very different context this time. Set in China during the Japanese occupation of early World War II, the underlying plot concerns the story of young Wong Chia Chi (Tang Wei), an actress and member of a small group of student resistors planning to infiltrate the home of Mr. Yee (Tony Leung), a high-ranking collaborationist government official, in order to kill him for his role in the torture and executions of Chinese resistance fighters. Chi ingratiates herself with Yee's wife, the sophisticated and cultured Mrs. Yee (Joan Chen) under the guise of being the wife of a wealthy but unseen tycoon. Flashbacks tell the tale of how Chi came to be involved with the resistors: her acting ability is her most valuable asset, and her assignment is to act the role of Mr. Yee's lover, right down to the sex. The story of their love and the painful intimacy it involves for both of them is told through their sexual relationship, which starts out violently, drifts into S&M, and shifts with their feelings, moving from pain and fear to some sort of desperate connection. This is lust with a capital L; the film's sex scenes have become famous for their frankness and acrobatic portrayals (they took 12 days to film), but amazingly enough, it's never prurient. The nature of their sexual relationship, and not the sex itself, is the point. Chi falls in love with the man she's supposed to kill, but there is no stopping the mission and she knows it. The danger of it all collapsing for them both is ever present, and that's the Caution. The cinematography and direction in Lust, Caution is masterful, and every scene is beautiful. The film does drift into a languid pace, and at times one wonders why Lee would feel the need to draw it out at the expense of delaying the crucial climactic scenes. Still, it's a wonderful piece of storytelling that should only help solidify Ang Lee's place in cinematic history as a master of films that express the difficulty of being essentially human in an inhumane world. --Daniel Vancini

Stills from Lust, Caution (click for larger image)

Customer Rating:
Summary: Oh my...
Comment: This movie was almost too painful emotionally and physically to watch! A young Japanese girl subjects herself to torture of the body and soul in an attempt to help assassinate an evil man. She's young and in a dangerous game, but her passionate, willful spirit is driven to accomplish her goal. Will her heart betray her in the end. Powerful movie!

Chrissy K. McVay - Author

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Customer Rating:
Summary: amazing acting; emotional and sexy movie
Comment: I wasn't sure what to expect, I've heard about the controversy of this movie, I don't even know if it ever hit the Big Screen. Anyway, I really enjoyed it. It's different from all other movies I've seen (including other Ang Lee movies).

Ang Lee is incredibly skilled at creating sexy/passionate scenes that are full of emotion, but never dirty or tawdry. It applied in this movie as well, even in the one violent sex scene. However, it does contain explicit sex scenes, so it's rated R or above.

The acting was superb, especially by Wong (the female lead). You could see how she was falling in love despite her commitment to the cause she supported. If you have not seen this movie, I highly recommend it.

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Customer Rating:
Summary: A great movie to have
Comment: Last Novermber I drove more than 90 miles to see this movie in theater. It is a well-made movie.

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Customer Rating:
Summary: Hmm
Comment: The story and film itself was beautiful. Be aware of some very acrobatic sex scenese that are almost difficult to watch and you'll be fine.

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Customer Rating:
Summary: Not enough lust and too much caution
Comment: I expected much more out of this film given Ang Lee and an all-star Asian cast led by Tony Leung, but sad to say this film falls short. The story is compelling enough, set during WWII, with plenty of tensions. However, it feels more like a cautionary tale than it does a probing look into the complex set of relationships that underscore this revolutionary group of theatrical students.

It starts out with a group students trying to defy the system only for its protaganist, Wong Chia Chi (played by the lovely Tang Wei), to fall in love with a Japanese collaborator she was supposedly trying to seduce into an ill-fated move. Mr. Yee soon gets the upper hand in the relationship, and Ms. Wong is left pretty much powerless.

It is beautifully filmed, as one would expect from Ang Lee, but the characters never seem to move beyond cardboard creations, and the movie plods to its obvious conclusion, with a few S&M scenes along the way to spice things up.

Lee still hasn't matched his early efforts on film, such as Eat, Drink, Man, Woman, despite the increasingly more serious topics he explores.

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