In Japanese-occupied Shanghai, there is no escaping from World War II — not even at the movie house, where matinees are interrupted by patriotic newsreels. Instead, the heroine of Lust, Caution escapes into the war, casting herself in the glamorous role of secret agent — only to realize too late that she's no longer acting. Wong Chia Chi (Tang Wei, in an extraordinary debut performance) is a lonely college freshman who falls in with a fervently political theater troupe. The group decides to apply its theatrical talent to the war effort, by staging the elaborate assassination of a top Japanese collaborator, Mr. Yee (Tony Leung). Posing as a married woman, Wong is instructed to befriend Mr. Yee's wife (Joan Chen) and then lead him into an affair, which will leave him vulnerable to the group's attack. At first, the plan falters; but after a few years' inaction, the students return to their mission with renewed zeal. Per her assignment, Wong beguiles Mr. Yee into a sexual relationship; it begins violently, then turns obsessive, leaving both of them surprisingly conflicted about their loyalties.
Ang Lee's espionage drama unfolds as a luxurious period piece, but by the end, its loose coils have been pulled as taut as a hangman's noose. The tension is ratcheted by the film's much-publicized sex scenes; unlike most cinematic clinches, the graphic trysts between Wong and Yee are revelatory. To see their unflinching eye contact above a web of contorted limbs, or the flash of an intimate smile between painfully gritted teeth, is to see layers of deception and defensiveness unravel before our eyes. (This kind of voyeurism would have added significant depth to Lee's previous film, Brokeback Mountain, in which too much of the lead characters' relationship was left to speculation.)
At the start of Lust, Caution, we see Wong attending a showing of Casablanca, sobbing over one of Ilsa's speeches. By the end of her journey, Wong will be faced with the same impossible choice as Ilsa: does she sell out the resistance for love, or does she sacrifice everything for the war effort? Either way, she'll regret it — maybe not today, maybe not tomorrow, but soon and for the rest of her life. — Gwynne Watkins