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Lust, Caution

Name: Lust, Caution
Director: Ang Lee
Released: 2007
Duration: 158 min

Representation Score

5.6/10

Fair

2007

NC-17

Director

Ang Lee

Runtime

158 minutes

Average Rating

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New Showbiz Analysis

Ang Lee’s work excels in its sophisticated deconstruction of social and political structures. By centering the story on a woman’s tactical and intellectual ability to act, the film challenges traditional gender hierarchies and explores the psychological impact of political resistance. The narrative provides a nuanced, non-Westernized look at the Chinese experience during the Japanese occupation. It avoids common colonial clichés, focusing on the moral ambiguity and socioeconomic divisions within the community. However, the film is narrow in its representation of identity. It lacks any meaningful LGBTQ+ presence or disability-focused narratives, remaining focused on the heterosexual and political tensions of the era.

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Category Breakdown

Does Lust, Caution have LGBTQ+ representation?

Minimal

The film lacks LGBTQ+ characters or non-straight relationships. The plot centers on a traditional, heterosexual relationship between the protagonist and her target.

How does Lust, Caution portray gender?

Good

Wong Chia-chi challenges traditional gender roles by using her sexuality as a political tool. The narrative highlights her intellect and perspective over patriarchal structures.

How racially and ethnically diverse is Lust, Caution?

Good

Set in occupied Shanghai, the film offers a nuanced look at the Chinese experience. It avoids a Western perspective, focusing instead on the internal complexities of a colonized society.

How does Lust, Caution represent religion and culture?

Excellent

The story critiques the wealthy collaborators and the instability of traditional moral codes. It portrays wartime Shanghai as a fractured social order under political pressure.

Does Lust, Caution include disability representation?

Minimal

The film does not feature characters with visible or invisible disabilities as central to the narrative.

Present on Screen

Challenges traditional gender roles by centering a woman's tactical and intellectual ability to act.
Provides a nuanced, non-Westernized depiction of the Chinese experience under occupation.
Critiques traditional morality and the complicity of the wealthy collaborator class.

Limited or Absent

Lacks representation of LGBTQ+ identities or non-straight characters.
Does not include characters with visible or invisible disabilities.

Official Synopsis

During World War II, a secret agent must seduce, then assassinate an official who works for the Japanese puppet government in Shanghai. Her mission becomes clouded when she finds herself falling in love with the man she is assigned to kill.

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