Lust, Caution

En partant du cinéma, j'ai eu envie d'évaluer cette nouveauté d'Ang Lee avec les mots "un film tourné sans émotion". Mais Lust, Caution n'est pas un film sans émotion. Au contraire, il est émotionnellement trop avancé pour exprimer des sentiments. Il ne suscite pas un soupçon d'émotion ou de compassion en vous, il n'exprime aucune sympathie pour les personnages et raconte leur histoire délibérément de manière impersonnelle. Impersonnel, mais avec la grâce cinématographique du réalisateur contemporain peut-être le plus perfectionniste. Tu es un génie cruel, Ang Lee ! (22/01/2008)

During World War Two, a bunch of rich Asian ladies gather in Shanghai to play Mah-jongg, expecting they will get through the war drinking rice wine, and that there is nothing but joy and happiness in store for them. But lo and behold, every now and then somebody defiles them, then somebody ropes them into something and trouble’s brewing. Ang Lee is a great director. He was probably the main reason why I decided to watch the movie. But I hadn’t expected that the story would be this boring. (08/09/2015)

Not a bad movie, but I wasn't particularly impressed with it either – not even with the sex scenes. The only thing I found really interesting was the interaction between Wang and Ye, just purely between them, without the others. The rest of it could easily have been skipped; for me it was extraneous = the film was truly excessive in its running time. It didn't leave any deeper impression on me, I just watched it; it didn't particularly appeal to me, even though I love stories like this. I'd say the dubbing had something to do with it; I usually don’t have anything against it, but here it seemed heavily out of place. Maybe if I had seen it in the original I would have given it one more star. (27/09/2013)

A strong mixture of many elements, nationalities, and customs. We have Shanghai in 1942 as a basis, but there are other locations as well, and it's not limited to a single year, which is good. And with four countries co-producing this body of work, and the added exotic bonus of the popular Indian actor Anupam Kher in a supporting role, there really is much to absorb. Including the soundtrack, which spared no expense with Marlene Dietrich's period piece. The sets, costumes, and the actual playing of mahjong are certainly a feast for the eyes... But what I do have a fundamental problem with is the depiction of sexuality and political theater. (11/06/2011)