Now that I have your attention, let’s talk cinema.

“Lust, Caution” is the latest from Ang Lee, the Chinese director best known for gay cowboy love in “Brokeback Mountain” and for turning Ziyi Zhang into a mega-star in “Crouching Tiger Hidden Dragon.”

The movie is based on a fictional novel with the same name by Eileen Chang, and it depicts love and betrayal in Japan-occupied and espionage-riddled 1940’s Shanghai (one of the cities we will visit).

The lead character is a man named Mr. Yee, a powerful Chinese traitor working for the Japanese, who finds himself entangled with a young student activist, played by Tang Wei, ordered to assassinate him.

“Lust, Caution” will screen at the Venice Film Festival at the end of August, followed by a September 28 American release. Supposedly it will have an NC-17 rating, which is usually the kiss of death in attracting American movie goers.

I look forward to seeing it. I love, just love, Ang Lee’s work.

Let me know what you think.

Other links related to “Lust, Caution”:

October 5, 2007 Wall Street Journal Film Review
Jakob Montrasio: Old Shanghai in Ang Lee’s New Movie
YouTube: Press Conference for Lust, Caution – for those who understand Mandarin!