I should write more. Already two weeks gone with zero activity here. I have seen different seen, lots of rubbish, but also some good flicks. However, the majority is just so-so.
Lust, Caution is interesting to a certain degree, but does not belong to the category of outstanding films. It seems that Ang Lee is spreading himself over too many different genres without really becoming outstanding in any of them.
This is some kind of thriller, a spy story in times of hot war. Taking sides also means taking chances. For once the resistance against the Japanese occupation is not Communist. After all Lee is from Taiwan, so it's not so surprising after all that he portrays the nationalists. It seems that the central heroine "Mrs Mai" is not driven by any political conviction, but acts on emotional reasons. Because she has an infatuation with a student, she enters the resistance movement and because she got a crush on her hate object number one, she betrays this movement. This is the lust part. Caution is of course required, because anybody can be your enemy, a state of homo homini lupus. The students are not only breathing for some common goal, but also need their share of happiness.
This seems suitable for an engaging film, not only a dive into history, but a story that is valid in all times of crisis. What makes Lee of this? He needs 2½ hours to tell the story - almost 2 hours are flashback. Every frame is nice, but most of this stays irrelevant to those who are not acquainted with Chinese history and in the end I, as viewer with some knowledge of that period, failed to see why I should engage in the fate of these students.
There has been some controversy about the very graphic sexual content in some scenes. On IMDb is a long thread with a discussion if there was real penetration or not. This is one of the most irrelevant discussions ever. Yes, Lee insisted on the lustful component of the relation between Mrs. Mai and the puppet for the Japanese. Censorship is very critical about this part of human life. On the other side it discloses the double standards of censorship that they obviously didn't have any problem with the extensive stabbing of the secret police at the end of the flashback. This was also a rather graphic scene, but violent and not lustful Fortunately no hillbilly asked, if this had been real. Well, the version I saw on television lacked 10 minutes, probably scenes involving various kind of body fluids.
So what to make of this. So much potential and rather little substance. It must be a 5/10 for a solid so-so.
Lust, Caution is interesting to a certain degree, but does not belong to the category of outstanding films. It seems that Ang Lee is spreading himself over too many different genres without really becoming outstanding in any of them.
This is some kind of thriller, a spy story in times of hot war. Taking sides also means taking chances. For once the resistance against the Japanese occupation is not Communist. After all Lee is from Taiwan, so it's not so surprising after all that he portrays the nationalists. It seems that the central heroine "Mrs Mai" is not driven by any political conviction, but acts on emotional reasons. Because she has an infatuation with a student, she enters the resistance movement and because she got a crush on her hate object number one, she betrays this movement. This is the lust part. Caution is of course required, because anybody can be your enemy, a state of homo homini lupus. The students are not only breathing for some common goal, but also need their share of happiness.
This seems suitable for an engaging film, not only a dive into history, but a story that is valid in all times of crisis. What makes Lee of this? He needs 2½ hours to tell the story - almost 2 hours are flashback. Every frame is nice, but most of this stays irrelevant to those who are not acquainted with Chinese history and in the end I, as viewer with some knowledge of that period, failed to see why I should engage in the fate of these students.
There has been some controversy about the very graphic sexual content in some scenes. On IMDb is a long thread with a discussion if there was real penetration or not. This is one of the most irrelevant discussions ever. Yes, Lee insisted on the lustful component of the relation between Mrs. Mai and the puppet for the Japanese. Censorship is very critical about this part of human life. On the other side it discloses the double standards of censorship that they obviously didn't have any problem with the extensive stabbing of the secret police at the end of the flashback. This was also a rather graphic scene, but violent and not lustful Fortunately no hillbilly asked, if this had been real. Well, the version I saw on television lacked 10 minutes, probably scenes involving various kind of body fluids.
So what to make of this. So much potential and rather little substance. It must be a 5/10 for a solid so-so.
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| Rating for viewers didn't object to the depiction of killing ... |
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| ...rating has always a problem with the affirmation of life. Double standards are not twice as good as no standard. |
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