Lust Burns so slowly

In March 2006, Taiwanese film-maker Ang Lee was embroiled in oneof Hollywood's most shocking robberies.

Riding proudly to the Academy Awards with his love storyBrokeback Mountain, Lee deservedly collected the statuette as BestDirector only to see his picture sensationally denied the top prizein favour of homegrown drama Crash.

The gasp of disbelief which echoed around California that nightwas almost as loud as the sound of jaws collectively dropping aroundthe world.

Lee sensibly escaped the furore by returning to Asia for thisslow-burning adaptation of Eileen Chang's short story Se, Jei, setagainst the Japanese occupation of Shanghai during the Second WorldWar.

Lust, Caution is the director's first Mandarin language filmsince Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon, and the two features couldn'tbe more different.

Whereas the 2000 martial arts epic boasted breathlessly pacedaction sequences, this new work - a meticulous study of femalerepression - is achingly slow paced, punctuated with graphic sexscenes that leave nothing to the imagination.

The film's flawed heroine is demure Wong Chia Chi (Wei), whobolsters her self-confidence by joining the university drama societyrun by radical Kuang Yu Min (Leehom).

She blossoms on stage, learning to hide behind various masks,even growing to like cigarettes because one of her co-stars tellsher "It comes in handy on stage".

Kuang vociferously denounces the Japanese and he recruits Wongand the other actors to his cause, which includes a daring plot toassassinate high-profile Japanese collaborator Mr Yee (Leung), usingWong as bait.

She will pose as businessman's wife Mrs Mak and infiltrate thesocial circle of Mrs Yee (Chen), then seduce the traitorous husband.

Wong's transformation is stunning and Mr Yee is poised to succumbto her charms, only for tragedy to strike.

Lust, Caution will be too languid for some tastes. ScreenwritersWang Hui Ling and James Schamus are in no hurry to bring theassassination plot to a speedy resolution, preferring to captureevery furtive glance of longing.

If anything, there is too much lust in the meandering middlesection - a couple of the full frontal couplings could be excised toquicken the film's pulse without sacrificing any of the intensity oremotion.

Newcomer Wei and the iconic Leung are dazzling.

Both actors place their trust entirely in Lee as the charactersare laid bare, in every sense, consumed by a desire that willeventually destroy them.

Chen oozes style as the dutiful yet bored wife who would heartilyagree with Wong's assertion that, "Men have constant distractions,so we ladies have shopping and Mahjong."

Director of photography Rodrigo Prieto, who worked on BrokebackMountain, captures the beauty and devastation of the period,impeccably recreated by production designer Lai Pan.

If you invest time in Lee's magnificent study of betrayal, you'llbe handsomely rewarded.

Damon Smith