- Sam Raimi Wants to 'Get Back to the Basics' on Spider-Man 4 (111 Comments)
- Must Watch: Teaser Trailer for A Nightmare on Elm Street! (109 Comments)
- Must Watch: Intense Trailer for Mel Gibson's Edge of Darkness (81 Comments)
- Must Watch: Second Official Trailer for Lee Daniels' Precious (78 Comments)
- Check These Out: High Res New Na'vi Photos from Avatar! (77 Comments)
- Paul Blart Director Steve Carr Hired for the Short Circuit Remake (Oct 27, 2009)
- Hitman's Xavier Gens Set to Direct Action Thriller 'The Fallout' (Oct 27, 2009)
- Bruckheimer & Straczynski Adapting 2K's Shattered Union (Oct 27, 2009)
- Steve Carell on Par for Rick Reilly Golf Comedy 'Missing Links' (Oct 26, 2009)
- Jason Reitman Calls Edgar Wright's Scott Pilgrim 'Matrix for Love' (Oct 26, 2009)
- Matt Damon & Josh Brolin Joining the Coen Brothers' True Grit (Oct 26, 2009)
- Ricky Gervais to Host the 67th Annual Golden Globe Awards (Oct 26, 2009)
- Woody Allen's New Film Titled 'You Will Meet A Tall Dark Stranger' (Oct 26, 2009)
| Inglourious Basterds | 10/10 |
| It Might Get Loud | 9/10 |
| Inglourious Basterds | 8.5/10 |
| Star Trek | 9/10 |
| Monsters vs Aliens | 5/10 |
TIFF Review: Ang Lee's Lust, Caution
September 10, 2007
by Alex Billington
- US Release Date: September 28, 2007 (Limited)
- Genre: Drama, Romance
- MPAA: Rated NC-17 (for some explicit sexuality)
- Running Time: 157 minutes
- Directed by: Ang Lee
- Lust, Caution on IMDb
8/10
Ang Lee's latest directorial outing, Lust, Caution, is an intricate WWII-based story following one girl's adventure into the risky world of espionage and assassination. Her and a group of school friends discover a man in the city of Hong Kong who is assisting the Japanese in infiltrating their country and government. Therefore in an act of nationalism they attempt to use their acting skills to infiltrate his "crew" themselves and assassinate him. Not according to plan, Wong Chia Chi (Wei Tang) becomes the sexual interest of their target, named Mr. Yee (Tony Leung), and suddenly becomes the essential keystone of their entire operation. When their initial attempt fails, they regroup three years later in Shanghai and try to finally finish their deadly mission.
There are some truly beautiful cinematic scenes in this, but overall its length (as anyone could guess at being nearly three hours) is the biggest detractor. The filler, which includes some incredibly raunchy sex scenes and mostly dialogue, is good, but nothing great. On the other hand, the great moments are absolutely incredible: a Singin' in the Rain homage and subsequent double-decker bus ride, a shockingly violent scene early on, and some ending sequences that are overlaid with my nomination for best score this year. If it were all of these sequences alone, maybe it would deserve more praise, but for the most part the remainder of the film is only mediocre and doesn't hold as solidly as the rest.
As just mentioned, I've got to give a special commendation to the score, composed by Alexandre Desplat (Syriana, The Painted Veil). There are a lot of beautiful scores that make their way into movies, but since the movie isn't great, the score is easily forgotten (like with The Painted Veil). With Lust, Caution, that isn't the case, as the score accents its often-tragic story perfectly and is one of the greatest elements of the film.
Is Lust, Caution worthy of earning Ang Lee another nomination for Best Picture? Not entirely, but it is one of the better films this year with some truly serene cinematic moments. Ang Lee is definitely a master of his craft and Lust, Caution truly shines with his brilliance in a few moments - at least for part of the film, not every last minute of its 157 minutes.
•  |
Related Articles
- » Worth Watching - Sept 3: Ang Lee's Lust, Caution Trailer
- » TIFF Review: Young People Fucking
- » TIFF Day 7: The End is Here!
- » TIFF Day 5: Racing Towards the Finish + New Oscar Hopefuls
- » Ang Lee's Lust, Caution Gets an NC-17 Rating and Focus Keeps It!
- » TIFF Day 6: Great Comedies + Wrapping Up