In some ways, Ang Lee's "Brokeback Mountain," adapted from a short story by Annie Proulx, and Ang Lee's "Lust, Caution," adapted from a short story by Eileen Chang, aren't so very different.Both, at the core, are about secret passion: two cowpokes who can't reveal their love for fear of the shame it'll bring on, or worse, and two Chinese in World War II Shanghai who can't reveal their love, for no less dangerous reasons.
He - Yee (Hong Kong star Tony Leung) - is in the secret police, a collaborator with the occupying Japanese, a married man. She - Mrs. Mak (Tang Wei) - is likewise wed, or so she says. In fact, she is a young woman who has banded with a group of theater students-turned-resistance fighters. Her mission, should she choose to accept: seduce Yee, lure him from his security detail, and have him killed.
A rich, beautifully detailed espionage thriller that captures the bygone days of Shanghai - and 1940s Hollywood noirs' romantic evocations of same - "Lust, Caution" is also one of those rare movie experiences: Its scenes of the trysts between Yee and Mak, from their rough-stuff first encounter to the long, tangled love-making sessions of subsequent meetings, are truly erotic. With an unblinking camera and bold performances by Leung and Tang, these scenes - which comprise maybe a dozen minutes of Lee's 2 hour, 37 minute drama - are not only what the film pivots on. They are what the conflicted souls played so exquisitely by Leung and Tang turn upon as well. (The scenes garnered the picture a rare NC-17 rating.)
"Lust, Caution," adapted for the screen by long-time Lee associates James Schamus and Wang Hui Ling, is a story about transformation - by ideology and politics, by sex and love. As good as Leung is, the film belongs to Tang, a mainland Chinese actress whose character, Wong Chia Chi, is an innocent college kid, left behind by a father packed off to England. Her first transformation comes thanks to the theatrical troupe that invites her to join: Standing onstage, in a fiercely pro-China production, she quakes with feeling and speaks with force. The crowd goes nuts for her.
Later, Lee turns a couple of lovely scenes with Wong losing it at the movies, weepily watching Ingrid Bergman in "Intermezzo," paying for a ticket for "Penny Serenade."
Also very good in "Lust, Caution" is Kuang Yu Min (the Asian pop star Wang Leehom), as the leader of the theater company and of the resistance cell - a man clearly troubled by the lengths he's asked Wong to go to insinuate herself into Yee's world. And troubled by his own feelings of jealousy and desire.
Joan Chen, in a quiet, tamped-down role, plays Yee's wife, passing her days shopping, gossiping and playing endless hours of mahjong with her girlfriends - one of whom is the spy who calls herself Mrs. Mak.
Suspenseful and sexy, with sets, costumes and cars that recall another place and time, "Lust, Caution" nonetheless has something very modern - or timeless, really - going on: the urgent, all-consuming desire of one human for another.
Four months ago, Shu Qi and Wang Li-Hong (Leehom Wang) were caught shopping together for a ring by a tourist in Tokyo. Lately a reporter who was known to have sharp eyes caught them having the same Sony Ericsson K800i mobile phone. Rumors also say that Shu Qi stopped her tobacco addiction because Leehom told her that he didn't like it. Their 'ground' love is steaming more and more every minute! As for the coincidence of them having the same phone, Leehom's manager said, "It should be a coincidence." Shu Qi's manager, however, said, "Things like this always happen."
When Shu Qi celebrated her 30th birthday this April, her only birthday wish was to hope that she can stop her tobacco addiction. Although quitting will be extremely difficult, she says that she will not give up. Because Leehom is drug-free, other people began to think that it's because of Shu Qi's love for Leehom that convinced her to quit.
This month on the 10th, Shu Qi wore a cap with extremely casual clothes and shopped at Hong Kong's Central for some food and other daily necessities. Throughout her time shopping she was extremely happy, talking briskly and happily through her cell phone. She giggled, laughed, and smiled, causing people to look up at her, wondering who she's talking to that is making her so happy. After half an hour, Shu Qi finished shopping and smiled triumphantly, walking away with her female assisstant.
When they left the store, the reporters ran up to her and asked her some questions regarding her upcoming movie, "Confession of Pain." She immediately hid away her cell phone and ran to her van, ignoring the reporters. Although it was only a matter of seconds, a reporter with sharp eyes caught her holding a cell phone that is the exact same phone of the new generation in which Leehom was a spokesperson for: Sony Ericsson K800i.
DENIED THAT LEEHOM GAVE HER THE PHONE
When the reporters say that Shu Qi was using the same phone Leehom is being a spokesperson for, Leehom's manager said that she doesn't know if Leehom gave Shu Qi the phone. She said that Leehom is a spokesperson for Sony Ericsson and whenever there is a new generation coming out, they will give him one to use.
As for if he will invite Shu Qi to his upcoming Hong Kong concert on Saturday and Sunday, Leehom's manager said, "As long as it's friends, he will invite them." Shu Qi's manager said that Sony Ericsson K800i is a new generation. Having the same cell phone is nothing to be astonished about, and denied that it was Leehom who gave her the phone.