Lust, Caution

The title does not lie: Beware, viewer, semi-graphic sex awaits! Yet there’s so much more to Ang Lee’s Chinese-language follow-up to Brokeback Mountain than the vigorous rutting that drew attention upon its release. In an astounding breakout performance, Tang Wei plays a Chinese World War II student revolutionary who — like Ingrid Bergman in Notorious — must use her body to get close to an enemy (Leung). While lacking Brokeback‘s tenderness, Lust, Caution conveys the melancholy of a love that cannot survive. EXTRAS A boilerplate featurette, full of ”Everyone’s so talented”-type platitudes. B