Lust, Caution … a moviegoer’s view

一月 20th, 2008

I had expected the movie for a long time, for the director is Ang Lee, or for the actor Tony Leung’s gorgeous performance. After the bombardment of media coverage, I feel tired of talks of the pornographic scenes and the detailed description of so-called vintage beauty.

well, i have to admit it’s a success in business. the movie consists of all the successful elements a commercial movie got to contain. famous actor, a beauty of traditional style, sex, controversial topic, all these contribute to a successful movie. that’s why it’s widely accepted by the public.

grass roots like watching a movie with famous performers and erotic plots; the recently rising class “petit bourgeois”, a class favoring city life, delicacy and arts, enjoy the vague sentiments or love affair between the hero and heroine; the media reporters seem not to have any objective views, shadowed by the famous title of director. the box office success of the movie covers a lot of problems.

when i finally come to the movie and feel the carefully planned plots and well-designed sceneries, i have doubts about the birth of seemly love at first sight and cursory abandonment of his concubine. in a society that is so conservative and old-fashioned that even marriage is previously arranged by parents or family elders, how could she sacrifice her virginity just for the so-called uncertain task of killing one traitor even without any arguments. the movie is based on the novel of a politically controversial writer Zhang Ailing, and it truly arouses debates on the attitude toward traitors. Can we describe a traitor as such a handsome gentleman with blue eyes? An obviously simple way in movie creation is still a hard question in china.

to sum up, i think is a nice commercial movie but not the movie i like to that extent.