This is an absolutely beautiful film, gorgeously photographed, with sets and costumes too die for, perfectly acted, an impeccably well told piece of history. You really couldn't ask for a better made film. That said, I struggled getting through it. It's long, slow moving and very depressing.

(Maybe I felt this way, because I recently watched Paul Verhoeven's The Black Book, which tells a very similar tale, in a much more exciting, guns-a-blazing, breasts-a-popping fashion, with a much happier ending.)

Lust, Caution is so well done that I would call it a must watch for anyone with an interest in history, but don't tread into it lightly. I was enraptured by this glimpse at Chinese history during WWII; it was something I'd never seen before. I really felt for Wong Chia Chi as she infiltrates the Japanese army through the Chinese traitor Mr. Yee, played with tremendous grace by Tony Leung Chiu Wai as he must appear evil, but also sympathetic. Their love affair is the heart of the film; their sex scenes were widely discussed, but I thought they were tame compared to what I'd heard; it's the love that grows within Wong, that is truly painful. She knows that ultimately Yee must be killed for the good of her country, yet she falls in love with him anyways; and it betrays her better judgment.

Maybe this film will be a little less painful, if you don't expect a happy ending. I applaud films that don't paint the world as a perfect place, and this is how it ended for a lot of people during this turbulent time in history. But after all I had gone through with Wong and her group of supporters it was traumatic; obviously this is the point, it's a powerful ending and I'd never ask them to change it.

Lust, Caution might be Ang Lee's most brilliant film; it's nearly flawlessly captured from the smallest detail to the grand design. They could have sped the story up a bit, I did grow bored at times, but I think that Lee really wants you to live with these characters, feel their excitement, disappointments and pain. It's not the most pleasant experience to sit through, but it's worth going back over the film in your head after it's over. - Grade: B

I already knew this story well. A couple years ago I saw and reviewed the excellent documentary, Little Dieter Needs to Fly, a jaw-dropping true-story of survival. The interesting thing was, that director Werner Herzog and real-life-hero Dieter Dengler would have rather been making a fictional feature about his life. At the time they only had the budget for a documentary. Over a decade later, their dream came true with Rescue Dawn. Unfortunately Dieter never got to see the film, I'm sure he would have been proud.

The chameleonish Christian Bale plays Dieter, a Navy pilot during the Vietnam War. Growing up in Germany during WWII, he locked eyes with a pilot who was bombing his town. In that moment, he became obsessed with flying. Moving to America and joining the military was his best chance to do that. He never wanted to be in another war, but that's what he got, and he's the kind of guy that easily rolls with the punches. On his own very first bombing run, he is shot down and left for dead in the extremely dangerous jungles of Laos.

Soon after he's captured by the Vietcong and brought to a small P.O.W. camp with a few other soldiers. The amazing part is under the worst conditions imaginable, he never loses his cool and remains forever positive. While the other soldiers are content wither-away or die, while waiting out the war, he must escape. He comes up with a doable plan and must convince the others to go along with it. They manage to escape their prison, but now they must escape the jungle, which proves to be an even tougher ordeal.

While Rescue Dawn may sound like some kind of Rambo film, it's all very realistically done. And from what I've read and seen in the documentary, it also remains as true as possible to the the real life events. Making Dieter's actions that much more exciting. The film is shot documentary style; nobody makes these films the way that Herzog can. He makes sure that everything is as realistic as possible, and the camera is right there along with them, as they're jumping into rivers and tromping through the impossibly thick jungles.

Mix that with one of the most dedicated actors on the planet, Christian Bale; watch him eat real-live maggots, be drug behind a horse, hung upside down while being pelted by rocks and many other horrible things, and you have one hell of a movie. The film is so in-your-face about it all, that after it's over you'll feel like you've escaped the jungle along with Dieter. While not really a pleasant experience, the film will make you feel proud of human endurance, as it is an incredible true-life story, captured like you're right there with them.