Lust, Caution

I went to see Lust, Caution last Saturday at Embarcadero Center, SF. It is very similar to Paul Verhoeven's Zwartboek: WWII, espionage, full frontal nudity... Zwartboek is very good, Lust, Caution is even better. The story might be a little weaker, but the acting in general is a lot better. It does not have explosions or car chase, but there are several very tasteful love-making scenes. Most of important of all, Lust, Caution has a non-Hollywood ending that left me in sympathy of the characters. Ang Lee seems to be still using his usual techinques of film-making, and he is good at showing the subtle feelings of characters. Its chances of major Oscar nominations (except Foreign Language) are slim, judging from its NC-17 rating and the lukewarm reviews of western critics. Overall, this is a very decent period drama. 8/10.