Lust, Caution

How this film uses it

The film opens in Shanghai during a mahjong game among women, then falls back to how a shy student named Wong Chia Chi got there. The jump tells you early that she has been through something, and the earlier story explains the mask she wears.

Where to see it

Opening mahjong game and flashback: Women play mahjong in occupied Shanghai in the 1940s. The film then flashes back to Hong Kong, where Wong joins a patriotic drama club.

How this film uses it

Wong begins as a shy student and finds confidence on stage, where her acting moves the audience. The group later sends her undercover as the elegant Mrs. Mak. The part she plays draws her closer to the man she has to fool.

Where to see it

The drama club: Wong becomes the lead actress in the student plays, and the group later picks her to play Mrs. Mak, wife of a trading company owner.

How this film uses it

Lee uses the encounters between Wong and Mr. Yee to chart who holds control. The first is violent, the next is more consensual and affectionate, and in the later ones Wong takes charge of her own desires. By the end, the power has shifted in ways neither planned.

Where to see it

Wong and Yee's first night: Their first sexual encounter is violent and cruel. Over the next few weeks the relationship becomes more consensual and affectionate.

How this film uses it

The pink diamond ring is both a gift and the bait for an ambush. In Chinese, the title can also be read as "colored ring", so the object is built into the film's name. When the plan fails, the ring ends up back in Yee's hands.

Where to see it

Yee's order: Yee sends Wong to a jeweler with a sealed envelope. She finds he has arranged for a rare six-carat pink diamond to be mounted in a ring for her.

How this film uses it

Wong sees her comrades waiting outside the jewelry store and puts on the ring. Lee stays on her face and on Yee's as he reads that something is wrong. You can follow the whole decision from their faces without a line of explanation.

Where to see it

Jewelry store: Wong notices the assassination team outside. Overcome by emotion as she puts on the ring, she quietly urges Yee to leave, and he understands and flees.