…or East, depending on how you look at it. Fresh from the success of Brokeback Mountain (and Walker Regis Dialogue), Ang Lee heads back to Asia for his next feature film, Lust, Caution. Based on a short story of the same name written by Chinese author Eileen Chang, Lust, Caution is an espionage love story of sorts set in Shanghai during the Japanese occupation.
A press release a month ago revealed that the two male leads would be played by Tony Leung Chiu-Wai (most notably from Wong Kar Wai‘s films and Zhang Yimou’s Hero) and Wang Lee-Hom (Taiwanese pop star who starred, if you can call it that, in Corey Yuen’s misguided Tekken film, The Avenging Fist). The big surprise is that these two very well known stars will be joined by two virtually unknown actresses. After months of speculation on the part of the Chinese language press, Ang has finally settled on Tang Wei from China and Chu Tsz-Ying from Taiwan to play the two female leads. Both will be making their big screen debut.
James Schamus and Bill Kong will return as producers, and Wang Hui-Ling, who penned Eat Drink Man Woman and Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon, will return as screenwriter. Shooting on Lust, Caution is scheduled to begin next month in China and Malaysia.