The Intensity Of The Unspoken

Lust, Caution (2007)

Directed by Ang Lee

Starring Tang Wei, Tony Leung, Joan Chen, Wang Leehom

Written by Wang Hui Ling, James Schamus, based on the short story by Eileen Chang

Lusting for the absence and ambiguity of love tears a woman apart and breaks her down completely - wasted time, fractured memories, tormented emotions and left her with a broken heart and life being taken away, at the end of her struggling journey. Her last breath was of revelation, yet, without regret. Was that love for the nation or what it an assumption of love for the one whom she should not have loved? It leaves a question in my head, but my heart has already been rendered paralyzed by her long lasting quest to conquer him, or was it the other way round? Her immaculate acting and subtlety in her being a Chinese "married" woman, little seemingly insignificant mannerism, the bottled up chocking feelings she feels whenever she is with him is enough to make me hold my breath each time I see this on screen. It seems to overflow and flood right into my heart. I feel the cut that she feels, the scar runs deep - a woman trapped within her own disillusions about love and how it should be, false hopes, misjudgement of character. Yet, she is strong and weak at the same time, in some ways only a woman could identify. Which woman would not fall for Tony Leung? (Though I could be wrong to generalize). Our visions start to blur, between him and the character that he is playing, for he captivates us each time he surfaces from his evil endeavours. Yet one can't help but to fall for the bad boy...can we? The woman you love surrenders her body and soul to the devil but you could only silent yourself, watching from afar, words disappear and eat you away every single minute, that must have torn leehom apart, but I could not see that coming across well enough...the intensity is deafening and threatening, it feels as though you could explode any moment if you watch on any longer. A story amazingly told.