I watched it for 2 and a half hours, and to be honest, I didn’t understand much.
"Lust, Caution" is adapted from the novel of the same name written by Zhang Ailing in 1950. In just over 10,000 words, it describes the story of Wang Jiazhi, a progressive female student who tried to assassinate the spy leader Mr. Yi in a honey trap at the end of 1930. When Jiazhi succeeded in seducing Mr. Yi and was about to take action, she found that she had truly fallen in love with him. After Jiazhi tipped off Mr. Yi to escape, Mr. Yi decided to kill him.
Story synopsis of "Lust, Caution":
During the Japanese-Puppet period, Lingnan University moved to Hong Kong, and Wang Jiazhi was a key member of the drama club. The traitor Mr. Yi came to Hong Kong with Wang Jingwei, and Wang Jiazhi's classmate Kwong Yumin accidentally learned the news. The passionate young people decided to set up a trap to assassinate Mr. Yi, and selected Wang Jiazhi to use a beauty trick to get close to Mr. Yi. Unexpectedly, Mr. Yi suddenly returned to Shanghai, and the assassination plan was aborted. After the Pearl Harbor incident, the school moved back to Shanghai. Two years later, classmates asked Wang Jiazhi to go to Shanghai to complete the unfinished assassination mission. The novel unfolds after Wang Jiazhi came to Shanghai and appeared in the poker game between Mrs. Yi and her "closeties" under the disguise of "Mrs. Mai". Wang Jiazhi is going to lure Mr. Yi to the assassination location: the jewelry store tonight under the guise of "earring repair." Later she and Mr. Yi came to the jewelry store. Along the way, Wang Jiazhi was thinking about whether Mr. Yi really loved her. The moment Mr. Yi lowered his head to choose a ring for her, Wang Jiazhi suddenly felt this man's "love" for her from the smile on his face, so at the critical moment Signaling Mr. Yi to leave quickly. Subsequently, at ten o'clock that night, except for one fish that slipped through the net, all members of the assassination team were executed, including Wang Jiazhi. Mr. Yi returned home calmly, but he was thinking about Wang Jiazhi in his heart. He felt that this woman really "loved" him, but he had to kill her...