Lust, Caution

No... it's not my current state of mind... and no it is not what this post is about, at least not entirely.

That was the name of a movie I watched over a couple of nights this week. Yes, it was very long. I could do a review, but I find it rather difficult to write those. Besides, that too was not what this post was supposed to be about. No, I still don’t know what this post was about. But, for what it’s worth, I did like the whole movie, except for the fatalistic end. It’s set in Japanese occupied China, for the most part, and in Hong Kong where this young, innocent, breathtaking beauty goes to some college of sorts and quite by chance stumbles upon a drama group led by a radical nationalist.

She joins them and is assigned a major role, and goes along when later on during the school holiday the group decides to take on some revolutionary matters into their own hands. They decide to assassinate a very dangerous and influential enemy of the revolution… Her role here too is major, as it involves ingratiating herself into his household and seducing him, before luring him to her place where the others would carry out the assassination.

This plan fails and ends up in the death of some inconsequential bodyguard… and this ruined innocence running into the night. Three years later, back in mainland China, she again by chance stumbles into a member of the old group, and before you could say whuddunit, she has again been drawn into the middle of the revolution and once again, it seems that the success of this revolution is dependent on her successfully seducing the same gentleman, whose influence and dangerousness has increased threefold.

She goes on to do this with such guile and coolness that somewhat belie her innocence. As a matter of fact… if there is anything I can say about the movie… other than that the sex scenes were to die for – Halle Berry’s Monster’s Ball has got nothing on it, it’s that for one who had never before had an interest in acting (I’d assume), this girl seemed to fall into her role(s) a tidbit too well.

Speaking of falling into roles, it occurred to me this morning while under the shower that that is what I have done in my last few relationships… (read all). I don’t remember ever thinking to myself, let me ask this girl out… and then doing it. I’ve for the most part found myself in situations that were defined more by what others saw than what we (the two in the relationship) set out to portray. This is what I meant to write about when I started… but I now forget what was so post-worthy about it.

I highly recommend that movie.. if you don’t mind long movies with subtitles. Or if you just want to see the now infamous sex scenes, fast forward to about 1:28:32 or thereabouts.