Kicking off Oscar season with a decided whimper, the understated World War II-era Chinese drama Lust, Caution certainly brings credentials to the table. Yet despite its trifecta of Chinese talent-directed by crossover sensation Ang Lee, based on a story by cultural heavyweight Eileen Chang and starring the veteran actor Tony Leung-the movie fails to get off the ground. We trust the pilots to take us to new emotional heights during this nearly three-hour ride, but both Lee and his fine cast remain unimpressively grounded, stuck in the doldrums of a story that fails to express its larger themes.
Much like Lee’s other popular films, Brokeback Mountain and Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon (let’s forget and forgive him that Hulk mishap), Lust, Caution centers on the tale of two doomed but passionate lovers. Wong (stunning newcomer Tang Wei) begins the movie as a starry-eyed college student in occupied China. She develops a crush on her idealistic theater co-star Kuang (Wang Leehom), who suggests that with their wannabe-revolutionary friends, they can spend the summer attempting to assassinate a known traitor and Japanese sympathizer, Mr. Yee (Tony Leung), to help the cause of Chinese freedom.
In spite of her na’ve devotion to Kuang’s scheme-Wong will play the wife of a wealthy businessman in order to worm her way into high society and presumably Yee’s pants-it’s the bad guy whom Wong ultimately comes to love. Word of caution for the faint of heart: this movie didn’t get its NC-17 rating for nothing.
At two hours and 38 minutes, it’s fair to question how Lee budgets his time. The film wants to show us the strain that playing a part can put on a person’s soul, but instead ends up straining the viewer’s patience and sense of belief. Even with the movie’s long running time, Wong’s transformation from trusting co-ed to jaded, prima donna whore feels a bit forced. It’s not until the second half of the film, when Wong resumes her pursuit of Yee after three years of near-isolation, that we really believe she’s earned the lines in her pretty face.
Still, Lust, Caution does have its moments. In between extended bouts of reserved conversation and lingering stares, bursts of violence-sexual or otherwise-inject a bit of vitality into the depressing fatalism of Wong’s life. One long, brutal scene, in which Kuang and his band of two-bit college revolutionaries are forced to kill a man, is a chilling reminder of the harsh reality that all actors must eventually face.
Toward the very end of the film, we are finally treated to classic Lee: a swooping shot, over a the backs of a group of rebels lined up and waiting to be shot, that pans out and up to reveal the near-bottomless abyss over which their dead bodies will be pushed. Although brief, it echoes the spirit of Brokeback’s lush, wide-open spaces or Crouching Tiger’s breathtaking fight scenes. After keeping his camera trained for two-and-a-half hours on parlor-room mahjong games and clandestine lovers’ hideouts, Lee finally soars, giving us a shot that both thrills and saddens. It creates a visceral connection with Wong and Yee’s plight that’s all too rare in this cautious film.
