I read a reviewer who said this film was neither thrilling nor sexy. I disagree. <br /><br />1. It is a remarkable piece of Chinese film noir with all of the attendant censorship and governmental intrusion which typifies how that government rates and supports such films. Regardless of how famous a director is, it is still a laborious exercise in lavishly fawning over and entertaining bureaucrats <br /><br />2. I have many nc-17 rated films which I buy because of the hype and controversy yet I did not focus solely on the sexual themes as I did on why the mistress/assassin reveled in the relationship and, secondly, why the mistress/assassin symptomatically betrayed the resistance at the slip of a lavish piece of ice.<br /><br />I think that the agent provocateur stayed because she needed to. She was a sponge to a handsome, mercurial official who exhibited confidence, certainty, vulnerability. These qualities are powerful to women. She also continued because her involvement became pivotal to the success of the operation and I believe that she enjoyed her status within the "cell." The way that they hung on her every word. Perhaps, too, she secretly enjoyed the position of privilege in a city which was rife with poverty, struggle, destitution. He stayed because she represented a simpler, bygone era of women who did not question but complied. She was for him the ideal woman coquettish, sublime, and indifferent to his " business." Her betrayal is symptomatic of all people inferring that everyone has a price. Her price was the rock although she knew that in doing so would risk the lives of her compatriots. It is, I say, symptomatic because it seems that women become weak at the sight of jewelry.<br /><br />As for the sexual encounters I understand why it was necessary. Both principals have terrifyingly dangerous jobs. She, avoiding exposure. He, separating his domestic civility with the incongruous terror of killing. Therein lies the tension. He for collaborating and reviling his duties and she for desiring the encounters and fulfilling her patriotic duty. The sexual intimacies were a way to vent pent-up, primal energies as both principals were involved in savage and indifferent occupations. In the same way that the well-to-do go to be dominated at niche clubs for a fee.<br /><br />I did not like the chronological disruptions also.<br /><br />I also felt that Ang Lee selected the right actress. She is adorable in the fedoras and flapper-esquire hats and period dresses. With the short bobbed hair and the cherubic, youthful appeal I felt that she fit seamlessly.<br /><br />It is the sex that retails the movie but it is the story which frames it.