北美 "華盛頓郵報" - 李安

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/08/30/AR2007083
000737.html


Ang Lee tackles forbidden love in steamy new film

By Mike Collett-White
Reuters
Thursday, August 30, 2007; 10:30 AM

VENICE (Reuters) - Oscar winner Ang Lee, director of gay cowboy classic
"Brokeback Mountain," returns to the theme of forbidden love with a sexually
explicit thriller set in the teeming streets of 1940s Shanghai.

"Lust, Caution" is based on a short story by Eileen Chang, and follows a
group of revolutionary students who hatch a plot to assassinate a powerful
political figure who is collaborating with occupying forces during the
Sino-Japanese war.

First-time actress Tang Wei portrays the young woman who agrees to ensnare
the sinister figure, played by one of Asia's biggest screen stars Tony Leung.

The movie is in the main competition at the Venice film festival, where Lee
won the Golden Lion award with "Brokeback Mountain" in 2005 and went on to
garner eight Oscar nominations.

Media attention ahead of the new movie's release this year will focus on the
long, acrobatic and sometimes disturbing sex scenes between the main
characters, which Lee hinted were real.

When asked in Venice about the authenticity of the sex, he replied: "Did you
see the movie? Then why do you ask?"

In a recent interview Lee described his new film as "a scary place," and
"like hell." But although lust is used to lure a man into a dangerous trap,
love's power also offers a glimmer of hope to characters caught in a world of
violence and fear.

"Lust, Caution" marks the Taiwan-born director's return to Chinese-language
drama after several English films made in the West. He said his position as
someone who works in Asia and Hollywood had helped his career.

"Being in between two worlds really helped me understand both cultures, the
Western culture and particularly my own cultural roots," Lee told reporters
in Venice, where the film was having its world premiere later on Thursday.

SHORT STORY, LONG FILM

East and West meet in "Lust, Caution," with a character visiting a cinema and
watching a 1940s English-language classic and a poster for Alfred Hitchcock's
1941 thriller "Suspicion" appearing on the wall.

Lee, who also made "Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon," said he had to expand on
Chang's original story, which was only 28 pages long, for the plot of his
two-and-a-half hour film.

"The novel had to be just a starting point and not the destination," he said.
"I had to get outside the novel, but being faithful to what she wrote, to
what she said."

The story partly reflects Chang's real-life story, in that she fell in love
with a man who was labeled a traitor for collaborating with the Japanese.

In the United States, the film has been given an NC-17 rating, the Hollywood
Reporter said, meaning no one under 17 will be admitted and limiting its box
office potential.

Just before the Venice film festival opened on Wednesday, Taiwan protested
after "Lust, Caution" was labeled as coming from "Taiwan, China" on Web sites
promoting the event.

China has seen self-ruled Taiwan as part of its territory since the island
broke away after civil war in 1949, and seeks to lower Taiwan's profile by
asking sports and cultural organizations to add "China" to Taiwan entries.

Lee skirted the issue, when asked his opinion.

"If you can find out what's going on, please let me know," he said through an
interpreter, referring to the confusion surrounding the description.

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