[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/Lust,_Caution.jpg]]

''Lust, Caution'' (色、戒) was originally a short story by Chinese writer Eileen Chang. It was made into a movie by Creator/AngLee in 2007, starring Tang Wei and Creator/TonyLeungChiuWai.

The story is set during the Japanese occupation of China in UsefulNotes/WorldWarII. Mrs. Mak is ostensibly an idle housewife who enjoys TabletopGame/{{Mahjong}} and shopping. In fact, her name is Wong Chia-chi and she's a member of a Chinese Nationalist resistance cell who has infiltrated the household of Mr. Yee, a high-ranking member of the pro-Japanese puppet regime, in order to become his mistress and draw him into a trap. But Mr. Yee is a terminally paranoid man and stays on his guard at all times.
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!!This film contains examples of:

* AdaptationExpansion:
** The original short story picks up just before Wong's last meeting with Yee. The HowWeGotHere narrative is considerably more fleshed out in the film.
** The in story timeline also received an additional year.
* AgeGapRomance: Wong is in her early twenties while Mr. Yee is a married man at least twenty years her senior.
* AllMenArePerverts: Averted for the most part. Kuang is chaste and only kisses Wong Chia after keeping his feelings shut for a long time. Liang is the only one of the theatre group to visit the brothel but even he does not enjoy having to teach Wong how to pleasure men. Only Mr. Yee shows any significant amount of lust, but his love for Wong is much more than lust.
* BrokenPedestal: Wong was in love with her resistance leader for years. By the conclusion of the movie, she is disgusted with him for using her and throwing her life away with the rest.
* LesCollaborateurs: Mr. Yee and the rest of the pro-Japanese puppet regime.
* CunningLinguist: Chia Chi is fluent in several Chinese dialects like Cantonese and Shangainese, but also in English. It helps her sell her cover as a socialite from Canton and blend in the occidental districts of Hong Kong.
* CyanidePill: Wong Chia-chi is given one when she joins the resistance cell in occupied Shanghai. When she is about to face capture by the Japanese, [[spoiler:she reaches for it but decides to allow herself to be captured alive.]]
* DisappearedDad: Chia Chi’s father is living in England. Although not explicitly stated, it is implied that he’s abandoned her in China with his insistence on not being able to make her leave the country and the fact that he’s remarried.
* DistractedByTheSexy: During one lovemaking session, Chia Chi’s gaze strays for an instant on Yee’s revolver. Yee almost becomes suspicious of it but she manages to distract him by increasing the intensity of the sex and covering his eyes with a pillow.
%%* {{Downer Ending}}: And how.
* FalseFriend: Wong befriends Mrs. Yee so she can get closer to him for her spying duties. Eventually she becomes his mistress after the wife has invited her to live with them.
* GorgeousPeriodDress: Wong Chia-chi, Mrs. Yee and her friends, Mr. Yee himself wear a gorgeous ensemble of traditional Chinese silk cheongsam and haute couture from the 40s.
* GrandRomanticGesture: During the climax, Mr. Yee gifts Wong a ring with a huge pink diamond surrounded by ''smaller diamonds''.
* TheGruntingOrgasm: During the sex scenes, some of the shots are dedicated to showing Mr. Yee taking extreme pleasure and climaxing with Chia Chi.
* HairyGirl: Played partially straight, as during one of Chia-chi & Yee's sex scenes, her underarm hair is clearly visible, though her legs are shaved smooth.
* HeroicSeductress: Chia Chi is trying to seduce Yee so that the resistance can assassinate a high-ranking collaborator and spy master. To do so she must place herself in mortal danger every day and makes several sacrifices to keep up her cover.
* HoneyTrap: The gist of the resistance’s plan. They want to have a woman seduce Mr. Yee who can lure him into an isolated area so that the resistance can easily and quietly kill him. It is mentioned that they tried it several times with other trained spies, but the plans failed until Chia Chi manages to catch Yee’s eyes.
* HowWeGotHere: The story begins as the assassination plot is nearing completion, only to jump back to four years earlier.
* IdleRich: Chia Chi mingles with the housewives of the higher class of Shanghai, and all the wives can do is to play mah-jong, gossip and buy clothes.
* IGaveMyWord: Chia Chi’s aunt dismissively mentions that she sold the house Chia Chi’s father left her but that she allowed Chia Chi to keep the students because she gave her word, as if it compensated for the grievance she’s caused.
* InLoveWithTheMark: The downfall of the plan hinges on the fact that Chia Chi actually falls in love with Mr. Yee and that in a moment of weakness she warns him about an incoming assassination attempt.
* InstantDeathStab: Averted with the death of Assistant Officer Tsao. He is stabbed several times by the students but does not immediately die and even manages to walk a few meters before Kuang has to break his neck.
* InterplayOfSexAndViolence: Yee gets particularly excited after mentioning all the horrible deeds he’s caused. He is shown fondling Chia Chi as he lists what's he's done on the day.
* KnightTemplar: Mr. Yee doesn't believe in moral standards to achieve his goals. LaResistance isn't much better: [[spoiler: they recruit Wong telling her after the mission she'll be reunited with her father in England, but burn her letters to him because she isn't meant to survive.]]
* LonelyAtTheTop: Yee feels very isolated as he neither trusts the men around him nor loves his wife. He even laments that he only sees fear in the eyes of the people he interacts with since he is a powerful collaborator to the Japanese. Thus, he is even more attracted to Chia Chi as she’s the only person that doesn't fear him. When he learns about her true role, Yee is shaken by the betrayal.
* LoveIsAWeakness: Exploited in the movie, as the resistance expects Mr. Yee to drop his guard if he falls in love with a woman, but the trope actually turns against the Chinese resistance. Overcome by emotion, Chia Chi tacitly warns Mr. Yee of an incoming attack and allows him to flee. The secret police then manage to arrest the whole resistance cell and execute everyone.
* LoveTriangle: There are two in the movie. The first is the one where both Chia Chi and Lai are attracted to Kuang, who himself prefers Chia Chi. The second is the one between Chia Chi, Kuang and then Mr. Yee. Chia Chi is attracted to both men, and while Kuang doesn't affirm his love until he is too late, Yee seduces and has sex with her, forming a relationship that results in Chia Chi loving Yee too much to allow his assassination.
* MercyKill: When we first see Mr. Yee, he orders an underling to finish off a prisoner he has just finished interrogating, on the grounds that the Japanese didn't specify they wanted him alive. He says "give him a quick one" implying that by killing the man now they are saving him from more torture at the hands of the Japanese, who would eventually kill him themselves.
* MockMillionaire: Wong and fellow student Lingwen pose as a rich couple from Hong Kong so they can find themselves in a social situation with the Yees. Wong successfully inserts herself in Mrs. Yee's circle of friends.
* MirrorScare: Chia-chi closes a window, and she spots the reflection of Mr. Yee in it -- he had been sitting in a corner of the room all along, but she hadn't seen him.
%%* NotIfTheyEnjoyedItRationalization
* OffstageVillainy: Mr. Yee is described as a ruthless spymaster who routinely captures, tortures and orders the execution of Chinese resistance fighters. However, everything except [[spoiler:Yee signing the order to execute the resistance cell]] is hidden.
* ProperlyParanoid: Mr. Yee considers everyone a potential enemy, and he's right, as he's one of the most feared and hated men in China for collaborating with the Japanese and working as spymaster for the secret police. Despite his attraction to Chia Chi, Mr. Yee is still paranoid enough to question her cover on a regular basis and to not act on his attraction until years later.
* RasputinianDeath: [[spoiler: Tsao, Mr. Yee's underling in Hong Kong. His messy and protracted murder is the reason Wong Chia-chi splits up from the group until three years later.]]
* LaResistance: The underground resistance cell that Chia-chi and her former classmates join in occupied Shanghai.
* TheRevolutionWillNotBeCivilized: The main difference between LaResistance and the Japanese occupiers seems to be that the Japanese are in power. TruthInTelevision supports it.
* ShootTheShaggyDog: [[spoiler: The plot is given away at the last moment by Wong Chia-chi, leading to the execution of her and pretty much the whole of La Resistance outside of the cold-blooded leader. All to protect the life of the rapist thug bastard she fell in love with and who, given the state of Japan's military fortunes by the end of the movie, is living on borrowed time anyway.]]
* ScrewThisImOuttaHere: When the assassination attempt fails the first time and a Chinese collaborator is murdered by the resistance cell, Chia Chi decides to run away, leading to the group’s separation for three years.
* ShowWithinAShow: Several shows appear in the movie. The most significant is that of the theatre group’s play which shows their patriotism and Chia Chi’s great acting talent. Chia Chi is also fond of movies and goes to see romance movies several times during the movie and assists to several musical representations.
* SlowClap: At the end of the premiere of the group's patriotic play, one person rises and shouts "China must not die!" Soon everyone else stands and joins in.
* TimeSkip: One time skip happens after first act as the resistance cell has murdered a collaborator and must scatter. Three years pass, and Chia Chi has found herself in Shanghai.
* TooMuchInformation: During a meeting with Kuang and their supervisor, Chia Chi gets angry at her supervisor’s orders and begins to describe in great detail how Mr Yee makes love to her and affects her psychologically, which squicks out both Kuang and the supervisor.
* TrainingMontage: Wong Chia-chi's training in the basics of spycraft.
* TrueCompanions: The theatre group, who’s been moved together to Hong Kong because of the war and bond over their love of theatre and patriotism. They all quickly agree to follow Kuang’s plan to assassinate Mr. Yee [[spoiler:and ultimately die together]].
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