Review of Lust, Caution (2007) by Alison M — 27 Jan 2012

This film is one of the few that lives up to all the promises; you won't be disappointed. The acting is superb, the casting is brilliant and the atmosphere of danger and mutual distrust utterly convincing. Ang Lee has even managed to create for us what really looks and feels like the westernised Shanghai of the 1940s, at the time of the Japanese occupation.

The sexual scenes are some of the most explicit and most powerful I have ever seen; they feel both physically and emotionally authentic. Apparently Leung (Tony) Chiu-Wai, who plays Mr Yee, had previously been cast in gentle, romantic roles. Here he plays a very different character, with total conviction.