Lust, Caution ***/5

Was it for real?

The story in brief:

Set during the onset of WWII right before the Japanese Occupation of Shanghai. A young girl fresh out from school became involved in a plot to assassinate a well-known 'Chinese Traitor' who was in charge of arresting and interrogating anti-Japanese activists. After a long, painful, careful and meticulous planning, the girl managed to win the heart of that man and became his mistress. However, when the right moment to strike arrives, the girl was too touched by him and decided to 'save' him by warning him. In the end, I shall stop here and leave you to find out the ending.

The verdict:

The big hoo haa about this show is the 9 min or so intense sex scenes. Definitely it is a big breakthrough in the Chinese big screen. Raw, crude sex scenes are shown and full frontal nudity for the actress Tang Wei as well as Tony Leung (only the bums and the balls for him though). These scenes were included to show the intensity of the relationship between the couple as well as to display the darker side of Tony Leung's character. A powerful man who lived in daily fear for attempts on his life. A man who would only come to live and feel in control when bedding his mistress.

Personally, I felt that I was watching porn on the big screen! I mean these guys were so pro and realistic and those maneuvers seemed so flawless that it looks quite impossible to not have done it for real (no wonder Carina Lau was so pissed). I mean how could they conceal the willy during those frontal thrusts (okay, I shan't be too explicit, go see it yourself). These scenes could have been made more subtle and yet still possible to portray the intentions of the director.

On the whole, it has an interesting plot. I would have given it a 4-star rating if not for the unnecessary long and explicit sex scenes. :\

http://www.incinemas.com.sg/lustcaution/