Monday, January 14, 2008
"Lust, Caution" or "Se, Jie".
It's January. About time for another WWII drama about a plucky, female resistance fighter going undercover and getting too involved with her 'target'.
Actually that sounds pretty sarcastic. I do not mean it to be. Just about a year ago I saw Paul Verhoeven's movie "Zwartboek". It was a great film and made my top 10 for 2007. The similar themed "Se, Jie" is also a great film.
"Se, Jie" covers the same emotional ground as "Zwartboek", only from a Chinese/Japanese rather than a Dutch/German perspective. Also, the execution of the material could not have been more different. Whereas "Zwartboek" was informed by the chutzpah of it's director (big, colourful, loud, energetic and brightly lit), "Se, Jie" is dark, menacing, withdrawn and grey. And it is a bleak movie. Oh, so bleak. No winners in this film, no matter what way you look at it.
As for the controversial sex scenes, yes there is sex in this movie, but probably not as much as you might think. The sex scenes are uncomfortable, grave, intense and sometimes disturbing. Very brave and uncompromising performances from Tony Leung and Wei Teng. If you are expecting titillation, forget it. Go and see something else.
I thought that "Se, Jie" was an excellent piece of work.
********
It has taken me over an hour to write the above. Not good enough.
It's January. About time for another WWII drama about a plucky, female resistance fighter going undercover and getting too involved with her 'target'.
Actually that sounds pretty sarcastic. I do not mean it to be. Just about a year ago I saw Paul Verhoeven's movie "Zwartboek". It was a great film and made my top 10 for 2007. The similar themed "Se, Jie" is also a great film.
"Se, Jie" covers the same emotional ground as "Zwartboek", only from a Chinese/Japanese rather than a Dutch/German perspective. Also, the execution of the material could not have been more different. Whereas "Zwartboek" was informed by the chutzpah of it's director (big, colourful, loud, energetic and brightly lit), "Se, Jie" is dark, menacing, withdrawn and grey. And it is a bleak movie. Oh, so bleak. No winners in this film, no matter what way you look at it.
As for the controversial sex scenes, yes there is sex in this movie, but probably not as much as you might think. The sex scenes are uncomfortable, grave, intense and sometimes disturbing. Very brave and uncompromising performances from Tony Leung and Wei Teng. If you are expecting titillation, forget it. Go and see something else.
I thought that "Se, Jie" was an excellent piece of work.
********
It has taken me over an hour to write the above. Not good enough.
Labels: Movies
# posted by Pynchon @ 9:58 pm 
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I LOVED Zwartboek. That was one of the best movies I've seen in a long time. And both lead actors were fabulous.
West to see Lust Caution on Friday -first trip to the cinema in nearly a year, 1t cost £16.20 for two tickets!- and agree that it's a really good movie but I'm not sure I 'enjoyed' it.
We left the cinema talking about it though and dissecting what happened and why people did what they did which is usually the sign of a good filum.
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We left the cinema talking about it though and dissecting what happened and why people did what they did which is usually the sign of a good filum.
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