Se, jie (2007)

User Rating:

7.8/10   

Director:

Ang Lee

Writers:

Eileen Chang (story)
James Schamus (screenplay)

Release Date:

24 September 2007 (Taiwan)

Genre:

Drama | Romance | Thriller | War

Tagline:

To kill the enemy, she would have to capture his heart....and break her own.

Plot:

An espionage thriller set in WWII-era Shanghai, in which a young woman, Wang Jiazhi, gets swept up in a dangerous game of emotional intrigue with a powerful political figure, Mr. Yee.

Plot Keywords:

Sexual Obsession | Cunnilingus | Shooting | Spooning Sexual Position | Stabbing

Awards:

Nominated for Golden Globe. Another 13 wins & 22 nominations

Cast

Tony Leung Chiu Wai	...	Mr. Yee
Wei Tang	...	Wong Chia Chi / Mak Tai Tai
Joan Chen	...	Yee Tai Tai
Lee-Hom Wang	...	Kuang Yu Min
Chung Hua Tou	...	Old Wu
Chih-ying Chu	...	Lai Shu Jin
Ying-hsien Kao	...	Huang Lei
Yue-Lin Ko	...	Liang Jun Sheng
Johnson Yuen	...	Auyang Ling Wen / Mr. Mak
Kar Lok Chin	...	Tsao
Su Yan	...	Ma Tai Tai
Caifei He	...	Hsiao Tai Tai
Ruhui Song	...	Wang's Aunt
Anupam Kher	...	Khalid Saiduddin
Liu Jie	...	Leung Tai Tai

Also Known As:

Lust, Caution (USA)
Se jie (China: Mandarin title)
Crimen y lujuria (Argentina) [es]
Désir, danger (Canada: French title) [fr]
Dikkat, sehvet (Turkey: Turkish title) [tr]
Ellenséges vágyak (Hungary) [hu]
Gefahr und Begierde (Germany) [de]
Lujuria y traición (Mexico) [es]
Lussuria (Italy) [it]
Lust, Caution (Denmark) [da]
Lust, Caution (Finland) [fi]
Lust, Caution (Sweden) [sv]
Lust, Caution (France) [fr]
Ostroznie, pozadanie (Poland) [pl]
Prosohi: Pothos (Greece) [el]
Traición y lujuria (Peru) [es]

MPAA:

Rated NC-17 for some explicit sexuality; Rated R for strong sexual content and a scene of brutal violence (edited version).

Runtime:

157 min | 148 min (edited version)

Country:

USA | China | Taiwan | Hong Kong

Language:

Mandarin | Japanese | English | Hindi | Shanghainese | Cantonese

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Sound Mix:

DTS | Dolby Digital

Certification:

USA:NC-17 | Hong Kong:III | Singapore:NC-16 (edited version) | Taiwan:R-18 | Malaysia:18PL (cut) | South Korea:18 | Germany:16 | UK:18 | Australia:R | Philippines:R-18 | Ireland:18 | Netherlands:16 | Canada:16+ (Quebec) | Canada:18A (British Columbia/Ontario) | Canada:R (Alberta/Manitoba) | Norway:15 | Switzerland:16 (canton of Geneva) | Switzerland:16 (canton of Vaud) | Finland:K-15 | Italy:VM14 | Portugal:M/18 | France:-12 | Japan:R-18 | Sweden:15 | USA:R (heavily cut version) | Singapore:R21 (re-release) (uncut) | Argentina:18 | USA:TV-MA (TV rating) (uncut version)

Filming Locations:

Hong Kong, China

Company:

Hai Sheng Film Production Company

Trivia:

Ang Lee made Tony Leung Chiu Wai study the performances of Marlon Brando in Ultimo tango a Parigi (1972), Humphrey Bogart in In a Lonely Place (1950), and Richard Burton in Equus (1977) to give him a sense of wounded masculinity, which Lee felt was right for the character of Mr. Yee.

Movie Connections:

Features Penny Serenade (1941)

My view

Many people already wrote the plots of "Lust, Caution". I don't repeat again, I just have a few words here...

I have read many reviews from the professional film critics. Some are extremely insulting, and those people didn't understand the film at all. I felt sorry for Ang Lee and all people who worked hard for the film.

"Lust, Caution" is a pure Chinese drama with the bloody China-Japan war and the Chinese cultural context of 1940s: slow pace, old Shanghai, mahjong, the traditional song, hatred, love, loneliness, and the souls of students and traitors.

Do not forget the cultural differences: Western people play the card games; Chinese people play the mahjong games. I don't know either, I always see the body languages of the players.

I personally dislike the raw sexual scenes, however, the film is still a masterpiece!