Lust Caution 色，戒

[skylee]

A new film directed by Ang Lee.

Featuring Tony Leung 梁朝偉, Joan Chen 陳沖, Lee-Hom Wang 王力宏.

But the most eye-catching is probably newcomer Tang Wei 湯唯.

Trailer ->

http://s81.photobucket.com/albums/j221/dodobear1020/200707video/?action=view&current=ff68c9da.flv

http://www.focusfeatures.com/viewer.php?f=lust_caution&c=trailer&ext=wmv&w=480&h=260

Poster ->

[Ari 桑]

梁朝偉 is one of my favorite HK actors. Looks good.

[novemberfog]

It looks like it will be quite an interesting film. Hopefully we will be able to see it in theatres across the globe. fingers crossed!

[skylee]

The film will be shown worldwide on 28 September 2007.

[lpascoe]

I haven't seen Wang Lee Hom act before, is he any good?

The film sounds interesting.

[skylee]

The film has just been awarded the golden lion of the Venice Film Festival ...

[Luobot]

It looks like the award is exactly on time for the 12th anniversary of Eileen Chang's death, or the day she was found dead in her apartment, Sept 8, 1995. (Eileen Change was the author of the story on which the movie is based.)

In addition to the story being loosely based on fact, it appears that there are also some interesting autobiographical elements in the story, especially with regards to her first husband and the character played by Tony Leung. She must have been very conflicted about him, as he was also considered to be a traitor for collaborating with the Japanese during their occupation of Hong Kong; and one might speculate that after his disloyalty to her (i.e., shacking up with another woman), she may very well have fantasized herself killing him ... um, for the good of the nation.

Eileen Chang seems to be a tragic character who's interesting enough in her own right to be the basis of a movie. I heard that there is an autobiography about her coming out soon.

A wikipedia article on Eileen Chang is here.

[skylee]

I saw the film yesterday. The cinemas are taking extra measures to stop people from recording the film as HK is one of the first places to show the full version. I've heard that the mainland version will be cut. Anyways the cinema staff inspected people's bags. But I told the girl that I was unwilling to let her see it and I didn't think she had the right to do it so she just let me get into the cinema without searching.

I think I am one of those people who do not really know what to do with the film. I neither like it or dislike it. I just wonder why the students would be so stupid to start the whole thing by themselves (but it is wartime and people fight and die during wartimes). And I think Tony Leung acts superbly. And the sex scenes are good enough for an adult film (not that I have seen many) but I don't know if they are necessary. The director obviously finds them necessary and without them maybe we would not understand why people in the film do the things that they do ...... (which reminds me of the french film Betty Blue)

I think the part about the students studying in Hong Kong is particularly unlikeable. It looks like a TV drama.

Too bad I don't particularly like it.

[Luobot]

Too bad I don't particularly like it.

I had tickets to see a prescreening of the movie in Manhattan and was kicking myself that I wasn’t able to attend. However, after reading your review, I feel better about missing it.

It’s interesting that Ang Lee, arguably one of the greatest directors of all time, couldn’t artistically bring himself to cut out a single pelvic thrust from the movie for the American audience to earn an "R" rating, but he’s able to cut the movie down sufficiently to satisfy China’s censors. The version for China should probably be renamed to, “Lustless Caution” or just “Caution Caution.” I think I can safely predict that the versions selling for 6 to 8 rmb in the streets and stalls of China (in spite of all the bag checking precautions taken in the movies and the scrubbing for the censors) will be a far more popular peoples alternative.

Anyway, I remain fascinated by the author, Eileen Chang, who may be an even more interesting real life character than the one’s in the movie depictions of her fictional characters.

[shanghaikai]

The market for Asian movies with Asian actors in the United States is still rather small and niche. Brokeback Mountain may have been successful, but it still featured white actors in a white setting. Coupled with the fact that an American MPAA NC-17 rating will not really stop the sort of discerning artsy movie-watchers this movie goes for, I can easily imagine why Ang Lee refused to even slightly abridge his work.

China, on the other hand, is sufficiently different. The cuts were either likely all or nothing. Moreover, it is hard to say whether he has the option to control the edits by the censors or that the movie is released in China.

[Luobot]

Originally posted by Skylee:

And the sex scenes are good enough for an adult film ... but I don't know if they are necessary. The director obviously finds them necessary and without them maybe we would not understand why people in the film do the things that they do....

Originally posted by Shanhaikai:

... an American MPAA NC-17 rating will not really stop the sort of discerning artsy movie-watchers this movie goes for, I can easily imagine why Ang Lee refused to even slightly abridge his work.

China, on the other hand, is sufficiently different. The cuts were either likely all or nothing.

I don't disagree with either of the quotes above. A sufficient amount of lust needs to be depicted in order for the movie to delve into the deep conflicts and facets of human nature that it explores. But the full extent of the sex scenes were either necessary, in which case they shouldn't have been cut for the Mainland China censors, or they weren't.

It would be interesting to hear the impressions of anyone who has seen both versions.

Read interview with Ang Lee

[shanghaikai]

But the full extent of the sex scenes were either necessary, in which case they shouldn't have been cut for the Mainland China censors, or they weren't.

One of the points I was trying to make was: Does Ang Lee have control over distribution in Mainland China and does he have control over what gets cut? I'm fairly certain the Chinese censors are perfectly fine with showing a movie by a big name about evil Japanese warmongers and their sinister Chinese collaborators. That this is what they see as the message in Ang Lee's film or that this is all they care to see and make available to mainland Chinese audiences is entirely possible. They may not likely care what Ang Lee's artistic purpose or goal is.

[skylee]

I saw the film again today and, having overcome the shock of the sex scenes, liked it much better. The film is actually very sad and depressing. Sad ending for both the students (all of them) and Mr Yee (Tony Leung's role).

The scene when the girl sings for Mr Yee is very moving.

Tony Leung is superb.

[wushijiao]

I saw this movie today. It is a really well-made, powerfull, and disturbing movie. Without giving much away, I think that without the scenes with nudity, the two main characters would be much weaker, and the tension that maitains the plot wouldn't work as well. Also, great acting from everyone involved, but especially Tony Leung and Tang Wei.

The scene when the girl sings for Mr Yee is very moving

I agree. That scene, and the general scene in that restaurant, are very revealing.

[shanghaikai]

At last! A raunchy porn movie with a decent plot!

[skylee]

wushijiao, how long was the version that you saw? The one shown in Hong Kong is 159 minutes long.

[wushijiao]

I think it was 159 minutes. I saw it at the theater near the Harbour City mall.

[skylee]

Oh I thought you saw it on the mainland.

[wushijiao]

Oh I thought you saw it on the mainland

Nope. I live in Hong Kong for the time being.

It's a good thing, because I think the movie would have lost most of its force if they cut out certain scenes. It was one of the only movies with signficant skinnage in which the nudity (I don't know if you can really say "sex" scenes?) actually served a valuable role in helping to develop the characters. Again, I don't want to give anything away. I saw the film only knowing, 1) it had got great reviews 2) it had lots of nudity 3) it was an adaptation of a Zhang Ailing story. I'm glad I only knew that much going into it.

Also, the movie theater was checking bags, and it seemed like they had guards inside the theater who were on the look out for people filming. Is that common in HK?

In some ways, 色/戒 is like Brokeback Mountain. Both got a ton of pubilcity, with a lot of hype. But at the end of the day, I think if you were to watch either movie 10 years from now, without ever hearing about them, you'd have to say that they are both really good movies.

[skylee]

Bag checking is not common. But patrol in auditorium is, especially for block busters.