From Eileen Chang to Ang Lee: Lust/Caution ed. by Peng Hsiao-yen and Whitney Crothers Dilley

Ang Lee’s espionage thriller Lust/Caution, adapted from a short story by Eileen Chang, inspired vociferous commentaries and heated debates upon its release in 2007. The present work assembles the latest critical responses to the film and its literary inspiration from scholars in Taiwan and internationally. In doing so, it offers rich insight on the process by which Lee brought Chang’s story to the screen as well as on the political controversies each artist provoked. Most contributors effectively incorporate a variety of modern critical approaches in their analysis of the themes of adaptation and betrayal, performance and identity, gender and sexuality, and power and manipulation. More importantly, some authors skillfully relate these themes to the complex historical and sociopolitical contexts of both sides of the Taiwan Strait as well as the rest of the globe.