Lust, Caution, Awesome!

World War II. Japanese occupied China. A group of politically charged high school students set out to assassinate a well placed Chinese traitor, diving under cover to infiltrate his life and discover the perfect opportunity to circumvent his tight security.

Lies. Seduction. Love. Treachery. Talk about awesome! Nothing at all of what I was expecting. I’d heard it was mediocre. I’d heard it was long. I’d heard it was graphic. What was it about? I had no clue – maybe some kind of love story. But, a group of friends convince an innocent girl to partake in their assassination plot by befriending a traitor’s wife and later, inadvertently seducing the very man they’re setting out to kill? That’s nuts!

It wasn’t slow, it wasn’t boring, it was freakin tense. Every scene that she is undercover, you can’t help but wonder how much longer until he sees through the deceit. How much longer until she slips up and he kills her. How much longer until the world around her comes crumbling down. And the longer she lives the lie, the more that lie becomes her real identity.

All I can say is that I was captivated. Sure, there weren’t big explosions or extravagant hit men or snappy dialog. There were characters. Characters I actually believed in all of their strengths, weaknesses and flaws. Simply sitting in a room in silence, they were saying more than many characters are capable of saying in an entire movie. What a novel concept.

Ang Lee knows what he’s doing. And he isn’t afraid to step into dangerous territory to do it. That, I have the utmost respect for.

~ M