ABSTRACT
Lust/Caution is quite possibly the most “overdetermined” text in Chinese-language film because of three intertwining issues: adaptation of the most celebrated female author, Eileen Chang, in modern Chinese literature; the ethics of sexual representation; and the politics of patriotism. Ardent Eileen Chang fans (Zhang mi 張迷) eagerly anticipated Ang Lee’s film, the first major adaptation of a Chang story to appear in nearly a decade. Given the lukewarm reception of previous adaptations of Chang’s work, such as Love in a Fallen City 傾城之戀 (Ann Hui, 1984), Rouge of the North 怨女 (Fred Tan, 1988), Red Rose White Rose 紅玫瑰白玫瑰 (Stanley Kwan, 1994) and Eighteen Springs 半生緣 (Ann Hui, 1997), Chang fans were particularly anxious to compare Lee’s film with Chang’s story, to decide whether the seasoned film director was capable of doing justice to Chang’s beguiling literary style.
