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Lust, Caution

Maggie and I watched Ang Lee's Lust, Caution last night. My first comment is that this is definitely not a date movie for most people.

It tells the tale of a WWII-era Chinese theatrical-troupe with a patriotic bent, and the consequences once their patriotism becomes vigilante fervor.

Wong Chia Che is a college freshman who has been abandoned by her surviving family. her modesty about her acting ability does not stop the drama society from recruiting her, and it soon becomes clear that she has a natural talent in speaking to the hearts of her audience, engaging them in patriotic fervor and loosening their purse strings for the cause. Wong is a student of American films; she sits in the dark and absorbs the emotions which later become fuel for her own performances.

When the taste of that power becomes too strong for Kuang, the drama society's zealous leader, he turns the attention of the group to plans that are significantly more challenging and dangerous. Wong becomes central to their plans, directed by a resistance leader with a longtime grudge against a Japanese collaborator.

The film becomes increasingly disturbing, since the troupe are over their heads, but Wong is the only one with emotionally and physically damaging exposure.

Without family, we create our own family through the friends we choose to surround us. Wong's situation is stressed a number of times when she speaks of her abandonment, when she gives up hope of being reunited with her father who has fled the country with her favored brother, and much later when she is living with what are, perhaps, distant relatives who care nothing of her comings and goings.

Seeing herself through Kuang's eyes proves to be a strong motivating force for her, but has she chosen a brave patriot or a cowardly hothead? The answer becomes obvious fairly early on in her mission. Her target is an extremely cautious (and violently lustful) official. Wong does what she can to preserve what's left of her own personality while immersed in the role that her mission requires. But it's unclear whether she's waiting for Kuang to redeem himself, or for something else. That personality may have given up hope of her father ever returning to "save" her, but is still waiting for someone to fulfill that role.

The forces of revolution and resistance take a back seat to the confused emotions of a girl who has never truly had anyone on her side. What is patriotism, anyway, without family? And if you define a family, as I do, by love, then what is patriotism without love?

The trailer can be seen here. This film is rated NC-17 for violence and violent, explicit sex. I found it to be an engrossing film, often confusing in its character's motivations, but thoroughly depressing throughout.

Technorati : ang lee, china, movies, sex