| Saturday, 6 October 2007 |
| lust.caution |
Lust.Caution is the kind of film you watch when you want to stay up all night and contemplate about the true nature of human relationships.
It is a film that is sophisticated, with amazing attention to detail, flawless acting, well made, emotional and intriguing; it is also the kind of film that has a tendency to be a drag, slightly too abstract - guaranteed to give you a nasty headache, and to also turn your bright and sunny day into a gloom filled, storm cast night.
Which probably explains why I'm having a throbbing headache right now, because I've been trying to digest what I've just watched in the cinema and I don't think I can do it without blowing my brains up. Its deep, and has so many layers of subtext that it fills your mind up with too much thoughts, so much that it makes you want to puke it all out in despair.
That said, I enjoyed myself tremendously - I thought the film, though quite a lot to chew on, was enjoyable and probably one of the most intelligent films that I've watched this year. The same cannot be said of my dinner, which was wolfed down so fast that I couldn't even remember the taste of it. Grrrrr.
The film was heavily cut - the infamous sex scenes were so watered down that they don't really matter at all really. But still, while it reduces some of the emotional power of the film and acting, it doesn't hurt the progression of the already long film (though some horny bastards out there would no doubt enjoy the longer, sex filled edition!).
Although I must question the NC-16 rating here in Singapore. With the sex scenes so watered down, there really isn't much reason to put such a rating anymore. The film was rather tame and I really see no point in slapping a NC-16 rating onto such a tame film. I rather they give us the ORIGINAL cut and slap it with a M18 (or R21, but the latter will mean that I can't watch it, so M18 is much much better!), at least the rating would be warranted then.
I must say the acting of the female lead, Tang Wei is impeccable - she was so superb in her acting, and was able to convey the feelings and changes in emotions that her character undergoes so well.
From idealistic student who joins a patriotic movement, to alluring double agent trying to seduce her bait and ultimately, a hard-broken woman who betrays everything in the name of love. Fantastic.
She's like a linguist - she speaks perfect Mandarin, English, Cantonese and Shanghai-nese! Plus she is quite the looker too! I think I've fallen in love with her! Woo hoo!
Ultimately, the film is a tragic story of the hurt idealism brings; the question of where your loyalty lies - country? self? the enemy?; the complexities of human nature and emotions; the notion of trust being found, and trust being lost; the hurt betrayal brings.
As you watch this cat-and-mouse thriller unfold, you learn the price people pay for letting caution go, and for letting lust win over you. It is a painful, emotional story of a woman's loss and sacrifice. Recommended for all you fellow emo-kids out there! Go watch and wrench you heart out while being all emo over it! =pLabels: movie |
posted by voldemort33 @ 00:22  |
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