Lust, Caution is a 2007 espionage thriller directed by Ang Lee, starring Tony Leung and Tang Wei. The movie is set in the late 1930s and early 1940s, during the Japanese occupation of Shanghai. Tang Wei plays Wang Jiazhi, a young woman who joins a group of resistance fighters and is tasked with seducing and killing Mr. Yee (Tony Leung), a high-ranking official in the Japanese puppet government.
Wang Jiazhi goes undercover as Mrs. Mai, a wealthy trader's wife who befriends Mr. Yee's wife in order to get close to him. Over time, Wang Jiazhi's seduction tactics become more and more intimate, and she finds herself falling in love with her target. This complicates her mission, as she must choose between her loyalty to the resistance and her feelings for Mr. Yee.
The movie is known for its explicit sex scenes, which are used to accentuate the power dynamic between Wang Jiazhi and Mr. Yee. The film's themes include the morality of violence and the psychological toll of espionage.
Lust, Caution premiered at the Venice Film Festival and won the Golden Lion, the festival's highest honor. However, the movie also sparked controversy for its explicit content, leading to censorship and bans in some countries.