If you’ve read my reviews for a while, you know that Ang Lee is a personal favorite of mine. Not only are his movies great and diverse, he’s also from Taiwan.
That being said, I was a little less enthusiastic about watching this movie after reading so many critics not liking this. The running time was also a bit of a problem. But I finally caught up with it and I couldn’t be happier.
This is a spy story charged with a lot of emotions. It’s not the James Bond type of spy story. All the background needed for this story is that it takes place in Shanghai and Hong Kong during the Japanese occupation.
A group of theater actors try to incite nationalism with their play, but they decide to do even more when they locate a traitor for working for the Japanese, Mr Yee (Tony Leung). I thought the scene depicting their play really worked to incite nationalism.
When Wong Chia Chi (Tang Wei) infiltrates the Yee’s I really liked the tension of trying to kill the traitor vs the fear of being discovered. That tension certainly reaches a high when the first murder occurs. It was a gruesome scene and it worked perfectly.
I was also surprised at the length Wong Chia Chi was willing to go for her “mission”. Her motivation is very complex. She didn’t seem that patriotic at the beginning, I felt she was just following the group. But once she started to get involved with the spying and Mr Yee, she felt compelled to continue. At least that’s how I interpret it.
What this film is famous for are the explicit sex scenes. The first one was basically a rape scene, though the woman was basically consenting. So she wasn’t trying to get out of it, but the man was very forceful. The following scenes were less violent, but still explicit. However, all these scenes were not gratuitous, they totally served a purpose, which was to explore the relationship between them. Their expressions in those scenes told so much about their relationship, there were a lot of emotions and not just of sexual nature. Those scenes really showed the acting talent of the leads.
I think the ending is based on that relationship, Wong Chia Chi makes a very big decision that affects everyone. I must say at first I was totally surprised by it, I just couldn’t understand why she did it. However my wife said she totally got that decision as a woman, and thinking about that relationship I can sort of see her point. I don’t totally understand it, but I trust my wife.
There is plenty to like in this film, I am so glad I watched it. Ang Lee can do no wrong in my book.
Rating: 4 Stars