No one can say that director Ang Lee is predictable in his choice of material, with such films as the period drama of Sense And Sensibility through the equally traditional action and drama of Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon and, a little less successfully, The Hulk to his name, but here he returns to his Eastern roots for a drama which may get a lesser audience than any of those three but which also sounds very promising. Based on a story by Eileen Chang, the setting is Shanghai at the height of WW2. A young woman, Wang Jaizhi (Tang Wei), finds herself drawn to a powerful and mysterious businessman, Mr. Yee (Tony Leung Chiu-Wah - 2046 / Bullet In The Head). Although Yee is married, she still feels attracted by him, but soon finds herself involved in dangerous wartime espionage when she discovers exactly what Mr. Yee does, and puts herself in mortal danger. Using cinematographer Rodrigo Prieto (Babel) and with a strong cast of Eastern talent, Lee’s film may not be an easy sell to general Western audiences, but all of his films, even the misfires, have redeeming and often fascinating ideas and concepts. Rather one of Lee’s adventurous failures than another director’s conservative, predictable and safe success. No one can say that director Ang Lee is predictable in his choice of material, with such films as the period drama of Sense And Sensibility through the equally traditional action and drama of Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon, underrated Western Ride With The Devil, and, a little less successfully, The Hulk to his name, but here he returns to his Eastern roots for a drama which may draw a lesser audience than any of those previous, despite winning the Golden Lion at the 2007 Venice Film Festival, but in many ways reflects a lot of his recurring themes and motifs. Based on a story by Chinese-American writer Eileen Chang, the setting is Japanese-occupied Shanghai at the height of WW2. A young woman, Wong Chia Chi (newcomer Tang Wei), finds herself involved in a deep and complex deception, having her pose as a married woman, ‘Mrs. Mak’, in order to lure a politician, only ever known as Mr. Yee, another layer of mystery and anonymity, played by Tony Leung Chiu-Wah (2046 / Bullet In The Head), to a planned assassination at the hands of a renegade political group. That the group is also a drama troupe emphasises Lee’s thread of deception, with nobody being exactly who they seem in a city where betrayal and violence were commonplace. When the two embark on an affair it is dangerous emotionally as well as physically, and some viewers may be surprised at the explicit nature of some of the scenes, which earned Lust, Caution the rare NC-17 rating in the US when Lee and his producers refused to cut the film for the less restrictive R rating, although the version prepared for showings in China is apparently shorn of forty-five minutes from its’ two hour, forty minute running time, with the sex scenes being most heavily trimmed. Lee’s film is enormously involving even at such a length, with both leads giving performances of true depth, even though their characters are both essentially deceiving each other and everyone they know. Using cinematographer Rodrigo Prieto (Babel) whose camera makes the battered city of Shanghai almost tangible and completely convincing, the result is a drama in which the violent ending, and the events leading up to it, are tragically inevitable and, in the context of the film, completely understandable. Lust, Caution may not be an easy sell to general Western audiences, but all of Ang Lee’s films, even the misfires, have redeeming and often fascinating ideas and concepts. Rather one of Lee’s adventurous failures, which is not the case here, than another director’s conservative, predictable and safe success.