The media has revealed that Zheng Pingru, a Kuomintang
intelligence agent during World War II, served as the archetype of
Lust, Caution, Ang Lee's erotic spy thriller film that
recently won the Venice Film Festival's top Golden Lion award on
September 8. Zheng Jingzhi, who alleges she is the youngest sister
of Zheng Pingru, said the film diverts too far from the real life
of her sister.
Zheng Pingru and the
leading actress Tang Wei in Lust, Caution
Zheng Jingzhi, an old woman of 80 plus, currently lives in Los
Angeles. She claims that she is Zheng Pingru's youngest sister.
Zheng stated that the film diverts too far from the actual life of
Zheng Pingru, her second elder sister. According to her account,
Zheng Pingru was actually a career martyr during the Anti-Japanese
War.
Lust, Caution is a 2007 Focus Features film directed by
Ang Lee. The film was adapted from a 1950 short story, of the same
title, written by the famed Chinese author Eileen Chang. The book
claims to be loosely based on actual events that took place from
1939-1940.
Lee's film is set against the backdrop of Japanese-occupied
Shanghai during World War II.
In the film, an idealistic young acting troupe in Hong Kong,
driven by patriotic fervor, drafts a naive plot to assassinate a
Chinese official collaborating with the Japanese during World War
II. Their star performer takes on the role of seductress of the
married enemy collaborator.
But eventually she falls in love with her quarry, mostly because
of their exciting sexual life.
Lust, Caution contains explicit sexuality and has been
given an NC-17 rating in the United States, banning viewers under
17. The film also does not shrink from a graphic portrayal of
violence.
Ding Mocun, the
traitor?Zheng Pingru wanted to assassinate but fail in
1940
Some journalists have described Zheng Pingru as a coquettish
lady and a hetaera. They alleged that many young men were attracted
to her beauty and wanted to elope with her when she was caught and
imprisoned by the enemy.
These reports irritated Zheng Jingzhi. She said that she could
understand how art exaggerates and distorts real life according to
the artist's imagination, but she couldn't accept the fact that
film viewers would relate to her sister as a heroine who indulged
in lustful acts. She stated that such a portrayal was disrespectful
to a person who had sacrificed her life for her country.
She also said that Zheng Pingru was secretly murdered by a spy
organization run by the Japanese Puppet Regime in 1940 because of a
failed assassination plot. At that time Zheng Pingru was only 23
years old and had only enjoyed one short-term boyfriend before she
died.
A scene from Lust,
Caution
Zheng Jingzhi mentioned that their mother, Hanako Kimura, was
Japanese. During the Anti-Japanese War she remained in Shanghai
with her husband, Zheng Yue, rather than return to her mother
country.
After the assassination plot failed, the Japanese Puppet Regime
agreed that if Zheng Yue would work for them, they would set Zheng
Pingru free. Although he clearly loved his daughter, Zheng Yue
refused their request. Moreover, Hanako Kimura supported her
husband. Eventually, Zheng Pingru was secretly murdered in
prison.
Zheng Jingzhi added that their eldest brother, a Chinese pilot,
also sacrificed his life for his country.
Zheng Jingzhi said that although she was only twelve or thirteen
years old at that time, she still can clearly remember
everything.
Ang Lee?wins?the
Golden Lion at the Venice Film Festival on September
8
(China.org.cn by Chen Lin, September 14, 2007)
