Lust, Caution



Lust, Caution (色、戒) was originally a short story by Chinese writer Eileen Chang. It was made into a movie by Ang Lee in 2007, starring Tang Wei and Tony Leung.

The story is set during the Japanese occupation of China in WW 2. Mrs. Mak is ostensibly an idle housewife who enjoys Mahjong and shopping. In fact, her name is Wong Chia-chi and she's a member of a Chinese Nationalist resistance cell who has infiltrated the household of Mr. Yee, a high-ranking member of the pro-Japanese puppet regime, in order to become his mistress and draw him into a trap. But Mr. Yee is a terminally paranoid man and stays on his guard at all times. ---

This film contains examples of:

 * Cyanide Pill: Wong Chia-chi is given one when she joins the resistance cell in occupied Shanghai. When she is about to face capture by the Japanese,
 * Downer Ending
 * Honey Trap: Basically the entire plot.
 * How We Got Here: The story begins as the assassination plot is nearing completion, only to jump back to four years earlier.
 * "It's Not Rape If You Enjoyed It"
 * Kick the Dog: When we first see Mr. Yee, he orders an underling to finish off a prisoner he has just finished interrogating, on the grounds that the Japanese didn't specify they wanted him alive.
 * It's a bit more subtle than that. Yee says "give him a quick one" implying that by killing the man now they are saving him from more torture at the hands of the Japanese, who would eventually kill him themselves. This film doesn't have Kick the Dog style moral clarity.
 * La Résistance: The underground resistance cell that Chia-chi and her former classmates join in occupied Shanghai.
 * Les Collaborateurs: Mr. Yee and the rest of the pro-Japanese puppet regime.
 * Mirror Scare: Chia-chi closes a window, and she spots the reflection of Mr. Yee in it--he had been sitting in a corner of the room all along, but she hadn't seen him.
 * Properly Paranoid: Mr. Yee considers everyone a potential enemy, and he's right.
 * Rape Is Love: Mr. Yee is a brutal man whose idea of sex involves violent coercion, but
 * This Troper sees it differently - it was only when Wong and Yee stopped having sex and started, particularly since she and the other conspirators had been so disgusted by Tsao's brutal death in Hong Kong.
 * Rasputinian Death:
 * The Revolution Will Not Be Civilized: The main difference between La Résistance and the Japanese oppressors seems to be that the Japanese are in power.
 * Slow Clap: At the end of the premiere of the group's patriotic play, one person rises and shouts "China must not die!" Soon everyone else stands and joins in.
 * Training Montage: Wong Chia-chi's training in the basics of spycraft.
 * Training Montage: Wong Chia-chi's training in the basics of spycraft.