Lust, Caution, The Novel (1978)

The novel was written by Eileen Chang. It is a powerful short story. The novel was published in 1995, after many iterations of rewriting by the author. Events were described succinctly in the novel. The story was about the assassination of Mr Yi (易先生), the head of a security agent under Wong (汪精衛), a government that collaborated with the Japanese before the Second World War. (No value judgement was passed on Wong's government in the novel.) The assassination plot was to create opportunities for Wang Jia Zhi (王佳芝) to get close to Mr Yi, pretending that she was an unfaithful wife of a businessman. Then Wang brought Yi to a jewelry shop where assassins prepared to act. In a flash, Wang was moved by Yi' affection, because he bought her a diamond ring of envy. So Wang prompted Yi to escape, which he did without hesitation. In the end, Wang and the gang behind her were caught. Yi ordered their execution. That way, "Wang lived for him, died for him". "She might have hated him, but as far as he is concerned, all that matters is that she has strong emotions towards him -- whatever that emotion could be." "Their relationship was nothing more than one between predator and prey." A powerful ending to the story. "Totally self-centred" describes the character of Mr Yi.

Eileen Chang, The Author

Eileen Chang's background and exposure put her in a position to write novels that reflected China in her time. She was well positioned to describe the rich and the powerful in Shanghai and Hong Kong. Her talent and training enabled her to put her stories in words that one can only admire. Eileen's grand father (Lee Hung Cheung, 李鴻章) was the most powerful official in the Qing Dynasty for decades. It was not a trivial task to keep one's head during the difficult times towards the end of the Qing Dynasty.

Lust, Caution, The Movie (2007)

The movie is based on, and substantially elaborated from, Eileen Chang's novel. Director Li An (李安) added a great deal of imagination and interpretation to the novel. He added a lot of details to the novel, such as the killing Yi's assistant, the meeting with Mr Ng, an agent against Mr Yi, the suspension in opening Mr Yi's letter.

Li An succeeded in creating the Hong and and Shanghai atmosphere. The mahjong scenes portrayed the delicate relationship between people around Mrs Yi's social circle. The innocence of the students was well described. They set off to assassinate Mr Yi, but when it came to killing someone for real (namely killing Mr Yi's assistant), all of them were stunned by the blood and violence involved. The sex scenes were entirely the result of imagination by the Director. Nothing of the kind was described in Eileen Chang's novel. They are gratuitous. I have no doubt that they commercially motivated. In his defence, if he ever needs one, might be that movies should always provoke by pushing boundaries.

Tony Leung's acting was as good as viewers would like to believe. His character, Mr Yi, was as calm and cool as Leung's characters in other movies.

No one can doubt that Tang Wei (acting Wang Jia Zhi) gave the movie everything; not just in exposing her body, but also in carefully injecting her interpretation into the character. The character that she portrayed was somewhat blur to me. Yes, Wang was motivated by the sense of right and wrong developed at college, and the hunger for affection. Yes, she was nervous all the time. But what was inside her mind? It is up to the audience to complete the picture, but personally I cannot find a convincing character in it.

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