Lust, Caution: The Story, the Screenplay, and the Making of the Film

by Eileen Chang, James Schamus (Screenplay by), Wang Hui Ling (Screenplay by)

Included in this unique volume are the original story by Eileen Chang, as well as the screenplay by Wang Hui Ling and James Schamus. Key members of the production have written notes about Chang and about the process of adapting "Lust, Caution." With a biographical essay on Chang by translator Julia Lovell and eight pages of color stills from the film, this volume will become the definitive edition for film students and aficionados alike.
Eileen Chang's thrilling short story "Lust, Caution"--a devastating tale of love, betrayal, and manipulation set in Shanghai during World War II--marks with a forceful clarity her mastery of the form. Newly adapted into a major motion picture by Academy Award-winning director Ang Lee, Lust, Caution has become an equally remarkable addition to the work of one of the most internationally renowned directors.

Genres: Romance, Art, China, Film, Fiction, Asian Literature

336 pages, Hardcover

Published September 4, 2007

About the author

Eileen Chang is the English name for Chinese author 張愛玲, who was born to a prominent family in Shanghai (one of her great-grandfathers was Li Hongzhang) in 1920.

She went to a prestigious girls' school in Shanghai, where she changed her name from Chang Ying to Chang Ai-ling to match her English name, Eileen. Afterwards, she attended the University of Hong Kong, but had to go back to Shanghai when Hong Kong fell to Japan during WWII. While in Shanghai, she was briefly married to Hu Lancheng, the notorious Japanese collaborator, but later got a divorce.

After WWII ended, she returned to Hong Kong and later immigrated to the United States in 1955. She married a scriptwriter in 1956 and worked as a screenwriter herself for a Hong Kong film studio for a number of years, before her husband's death in 1967. She moved from New York to Los Angeles in 1972 and became a hermit of sorts during her last years. She passed away alone in her apartment in 1995.

Reviews

[N · Rating 5 out of 5]

"Lust, Caution" the film directed by Ang Lee was an underrated masterpiece of espionage and torrid eroticism that generated genuine mixed emotions of love, sex and violence all rolled up in one haunting movie. Tony Leung and Tang Wei's performances as the two unlikely lovers are haunting because it is the sex scenes that truly drive the plot.

Meanwhile, Eileen Chang's novella is a spare, brutal and erotic little gem that became an epic film that fans of Ang Lee should see immediately. It is a brutal love story trapped a situation in which inexorably marches towards a devastating finale.

The screenplay, by Wang Hui Ling and James Schamus expands on the novella, filling in gaps that Ms. Chang has left for the reader to decide for themselves, and the insights of Ang Lee's team about the making of the film and its production offer insight on how this sexually charged erotic thriller was crafted.

[Debbie · Rating 4 out of 5]

Chang's short story was wonderful, and seeing how the script was adapted was also an interesting process. Definitely see how Lee's direction elevated the script (and also the English translation doesn't sound as beautiful as the words do in Chinese to be honest!). Loved the production notes at the end.

[reveurdart · Rating 5 out of 5]

Prose at its best. This story had so many of the things I like: 1940s setting, Shanghai in the early to mid-20th century, espionage, secrets and a forbidden love (albeit here very flawed). This audio book was narrated by Jodi Long and I think she did a good job immersing you in the plot.

[B. Hallward · Rating 2 out of 5]

A commercially orientated tie-in with the movie which has a lot of filler material. Disappointing. A single short story is too slight an anchor for this book.

[Anna Boudinot · Rating 4 out of 5]

A great companion to a great film. But watch the film first!

[Julia · Rating 3 out of 5]

Good for better appreciation of the movie.

[Jerrika · Rating 3 out of 5]

More like a 3.5. Gave me a better idea of the historical events surrounding the story even though I had seen and had been devastated by the film years before. I really like the short story portion and even though I knew how it would all end, it just added more to the suspense surrounding the decision Chia-Chih finally makes. I think this would have been better if it were just the story and the history of Eileen Chang. I didn't enjoy the portion with the screenplay or some of the behind the scenes stories.

[Julie · Rating 3 out of 5]

finished

[Isham Cook · Rating 5 out of 5]

One of Eileen Chang's more incisive, suspenseful narratives.