Lust, Caution 2007

In the midst of Shanghai’s occupation by Japanese forces in 1942, Mrs. Mak (Wong Chia Chi, or Tang Wei) slips into a café, places a call, and settles in for a reverie. As she waits, her thoughts drift back to the tumultuous years preceding World War II, when China was already reeling from the aftershocks of 1938’s brutal conflict. The woman who sits sipping tea is not, however, the poised Mrs. Mak - but rather Wong Chia Chi, a shy and introverted university freshman. Left behind by her father, who had fled to England in the wake of war, Wong found solace in her studies and an unexpected calling when she joined Kuang Yu Min’s (Wang Leehom) drama society.

As the troupe’s new leading lady, Wong discovered a sense of purpose, moving audiences with her performances and captivating Kuang himself. The theater group’s ambitious project was to stage a daring assassination plot against Mr. Yee (Tony Leung), a high-ranking Japanese collaborator. Each student had a crucial role to play in the operation; Wong would transform into Mrs. Mak, befriending Yee’s wife (Joan Chen) and seducing him, all in an effort to gain his trust. With a new persona and appearance, Wong immersed herself in her character, and the plan unfolded as scripted - until fate intervened with an unforeseen twist, prompting her hasty flight.

Years later, in 1941, Shanghai remained trapped in the vice-like grip of occupation, with no end in sight. Wong, now emigrated from Hong Kong, went through the motions of her existence, numb to the hardships that surrounded her. Then, as if fate had brought them together once more, Kuang reappeared in her life - this time, however, he was part of the organized resistance movement. With his reappearance came a new proposal: Wong would again don the guise of Mrs. Mak and play her earlier role in a revived plot to eliminate Yee, now head of the collaborationist secret service and a linchpin of the puppet government. As Wong re-entered the treacherous game, she found herself drawn ever closer to her target, with her very identity pushed to the breaking point…