The last movie of the sem break...

(I don't wish to spoil the movie for anyone who'd want to watch it, so I won't go into details)

Ang Lee's LUST, CAUTION (Se, Jie) was marketed as an "erotic spy-thriller," but after sitting through all 2.5 hours of it, I think this is too simplistic a description.

There's lust, to be sure, and we are shown lust in several forms, the sheer destructiveness of it, the irrationality of it... and at the end one realizes how vulnerable we human beings are to this vice... that no matter how educated and morally upright one prides one's self to be, lust can still prove to be a temptation too powerful to defeat.

But there are also various issues tackled in the film... such as what kind of ethical code can a society have during wartime. And the choices one must make between personal morals, patriotism & "love."

What adjectives to ascribe to the movie? Interesting? Definitely. I FELT for the characters, five minutes into the movie pa lang and I wanted to see how it would end (in fact, I forced my rebellious bladder into submission because I couldn't bear leaving my seat, even for only a few minutes).

Erotic? Excluding the R18 scenes, I'd say it was very sensual. Certain images remain in my mind's eye: the blood-red lipstick stain left on a pale white coffee cup... a young girl leaning out of the bus window to let the raindrops fall on her moon-shaped face... the harsh white stage lights knifing through the dark to partially illuminate the lonely face of a youth who's been forced to mature too quickly... for the cinematography alone, I'd say this movie would have been worth a ticket.

Haunting? Yep! The story is still playing over and over in my head... it's definitely one of those movies that will stay with you long after you've left the cinema.

~ ~ "Caution! There is lust!" says my twin sister.

Call me a prude but I was shocked by the controversial love scenes, and while some would argue that they were necessary for the audience to fully understand the characters, I still think that it was too much. You can film tasteful love scenes by just showing the emotions on the actors' faces. And it's more of a challenge to the actors and the director that way, I think.

~ ~

Enrollment time tomorrow... the last time, for me.