Lust, Caution - Review

When looking at Ang Lee's body of work, including critically acclaimed Brokeback Mountain and Sense and Sensibility, Lust, Caution should not be ignored. This extraordinary piece of film exposes life in occupied Shanghai and the lengths the Chinese are willing to go for the resistance movement. A twisted story of erotic, overpowering love between a beautiful Chinese woman working for the resistance and a powerful man pulling the strings of the Japanese occupation, Lust, Caution earns an NC-17 rating due to the passionate escapades. Brilliantly photographed and composed, this film comprised of Mandarin subtitles is truly a work of art.

Wei Tang magnificently plays Wong, an innocent school girl that transforms overnight into a risk-taking seductress, snaking her way in Mr. Yee’s heart in an attempt to aide in his assassination. The dialogue of the film becomes increasingly complex and meaningful throughout, and Wei Tang expertly delivers her lines. The women of the film wear beautiful costumes by Lai Pan of 1940’s Chinese dress, and Alexandre Desplat’s original musical score melodically flows as the camera follows the seductive glances stolen between Wong and Mr. Yee.

The screenplay is based on a short story by Eileen Chang and touches on themes of sacrificial love and loyalty. By the end of the film, Wong is given a choice between letting Yee walk into his assassination or warning him about it, risking her own life, exposing her true identity. She chooses the latter, a nod to the true passion and love she has for Mr. Yee, regardless of the horrible things he does to her Chinese compatriots. At the same time, she gives up the entire assassination group, and in effect sentences everyone to death. Regardless of the consequences, the depth of the love between Yee and Wong invokes a feeling of admiration akin to Romeo and Juliet. Wong knowingly gives up her life for Yee, but he is restrained by his sense of duty and cannot return her act of passion.   

The darkness of the film does not stifle, instead it lends to the treacherous lives of lies and deceit that all the characters in the film lead. The camera work and editing are a perfect match, splicing furtive eye contact between Yee and Wong creating tension and anxiety until it is at last released in sensual sex scenes that, however graphic, are neither raunchy nor distasteful. Ang also directs a visceral scene of raw violence, when the blood hungry group of assassins takes turns stabbing one of Mr. Yee’s assistants. The camera opens to a wide frame shot, leaving nothing to the imagination of the brutal attack that the group feels completely justified in committing.

Interestingly, the film is bookended with talk of rings, bringing the story “full circle” so to speak. It starts with Wong sitting around the table with her new “friends,” the wives of top Japanese occupation officers, discussing their jeweled fingers as they play a traditional board game. The story line flashes back to before Wong meets Mr. Yee, when she is still an innocent school girl, unaware that she will soon join the resistance, and proceeds chronologically from there. The end of the film, when Wong sacrifices herself to save Yee, is set in a jewelry store with Wong trying on the “quail egg” diamond ring Yee has made especially for her. Although normally guarded and unemotional, his love for her is exposed when he says he doesn’t care about the diamond, he just cares about how it looks on her finger; she has become the treasure of his life.

Lust, Caution is a poetic film, directed with a truly artistic eye. Ang chooses the vessel of a period piece to cover topics of love and political passion. The thematic qualities of the story and the inventive direction, editing, and photography harmoniously blend into a visual masterpiece. 

Last Friday Recap on Contempt

Last Friday I had my first curated screening at Garage Projects in Castelberry Hill. I screened Contempt (Godard, 1963) and gave a brief talk beforehand which I've posted below. Enjoy! And please join us next month, 2nd Friday, for Branded to Kill (Seijun Suzuki, 1967).

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I wanted to start with Contempt for this series on intertextuality. The abundance of literary and cinematic intertext throughout Contempt is what created this first Garage Projects theme for me. We are discussing intertexuality as a film that is referencing another piece of art or literature. New Wave films especially incorporate intertext and an overarching theme of reflexivity. This self-reflexive theme in Contempt is overt, showing the making of a film within the diagesis.

Contempt traces the making of Homer's Odyssey. So on one hand we get the literary reference to The Odyssey through images and through the the actual text/dialogue. There are long pans over huge icons of Greek gods looking out to sea putting the film in conversation with The Odyssey.

Regarding reflexivity, this film revolves around the making of a film about The Odyssey. Godard shows the mechanics of making a film; there are shots of boom mikes and the cameras tracking. Fritz Lang is in the film as himself which puts the film into conversation with film history. Godard makes an appearance in the film as Lang's assitant. There is also a scene when Paul, our protagonist, mentions film makers such as Lumiere, Griffith and Chaplin.

Godard called this film – “a story of castaways of the western world, survivors of the shipwreck of modernity” so with out further ado – I really hope you enjoy the film.

Garage Projects Opening Night - Sept. 9

What: Garage Projects opening Night - Contempt ( Jean Luc Godard, 1963)
When: Friday, September 9th at 8:30 PM
Where: Garage Projects Studio (Castleberry Hill Neighborhood)

261 Peters Street SW

Atlanta, Georgia 30313

This year's garage project program will start with Fall/Winter 2011
1960s New Wave Movements and Intertextuality

Be sure to check it out!

The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly

The Good, the Bad and the Ugly (Leone, 1966) follows three different men on a quest for gold in the form of a long archetypal narrative structure. These 3 men, named in the title as such, each have their own way of getting to this treasure, their paths inevitably crossing. Leone’s last installment of the “Man with No Name” trilogy illustrates the humanistic nature of men and how certain traits are rewarded. Most interesting is the relationship between Blondie and Tuco (Eastwood and Wallach). The position of power in their relationship is constantly shifting - Blondie using Tuco, Tuco getting back at Blondie – they use each other. When the two chance upon the infamous Bill Carson who reveals the whereabouts of the money, ironically he reveals the general location to one, and the specific grave where it is buried to the other. Tuco and Blondie have no choice but to help each other if they want to see the treasure. The third party in this story, “the bad” Angel Eyes, lives up to the name, also hunting for the money through the guise of serving in the Yankee army. Lee van Cleef is positively sinister, all in black, on his prancing black Andalusian stallion, always following through with his jobs to the death, so he says.

Rather than a story of idealism, heroism, and something “greater than man,” the film deals explicitly with the human nature of greed and fairness. Unlike some present day westerns like Cowboys & Aliens (Jon Favreau, 2011) which throws at us clichéd themes of coming together against a common enemy – yes, the whites and Indians ban together to fight the aliens – Leone takes a look at human nature, leaving idealism aside. Even “the good” has his own interests at heart, but he’s fair. Leone’s story is a depiction of what makes humans tick – in this case, money. Unlike classic westerns (specifically early American westerns by the likes of John Ford), the protagonist is not necessarily the hero. The antagonist is clearly bad - personified by Angel Eyes, he defies the code of Western honor from the beginning, shooting a child. But the hero is not quite as clear, perhaps not there at all. The question of what makes man good is not so clearly defined either. In the classic old west the rules of the game are black/white, good/evil, hero/villain; however Leone is able to muddle right and wrong in favor of showing the humanism of Blondie and Tuco, who are concerned with their own well being rather than something bigger than themselves.

Most beautiful is the rhythmic montage taken straight from the pages of Vertov, particularly at the final duel in the circular middle of the graveyard where the treasure waits at a grave marked “Unkown.” Not only does the editing cut in perfect time with Ennio Morricone's score – who frequently collaborated with Leone – but the movement from eye to gun to hand to eye over and back again creates a thrilling lead up to the demise of Angel Eyes. Regardless of the length of this film, the final scene, an editing masterpiece, is worth the wait.

The Good, the Bad and the Ugly certainly takes a classic western plot line of men seeking treasure and allows us to look at the characters under a humanistic lens. It is a refreshing derivative of the classics we see with Ford and Hawks. Leone makes his autuerist mark on this film as well – a nice final installment to his trilogy.