(Xinhua)
Updated: 2007-12-04 21:34

A month after its release in the Chinese mainland, Ang Lee's award-winning film "Lust, Caution" has been a permanent subject of debate for its explicit sexual content - or lack of it - and for its political undertones.

Hong Kong's Tony Leung and mainland actress Tang Wei 'flirt' in Ang Lee's film "Lust, Caution". The Venice Film Festival's Golden Lion winner has become a popular hit on the Chinese mainland for its explicit sex scenes. [File]

Containing bold sex scenes, the Venice Film Festival's Golden Lion winner for Best Picture had to be cut by seven sexually explicit minutes.

Unfazed, Chinese filmgoers have ensured the film has been a big hit on the mainland, with box office sales surpassing more than 100 million yuan (US$13.3 million) in just over two weeks.

Some were left unsatisfied by the deleted sex scenes, choosing to download the film from the Internet and, in some cases, traveling from southern Guangdong province to Hong Kong specifically to watch the steamy sections.

In online forums, the movie ignited a new round of debate about the adoption of a film rating system in China. One critic said, "The true meaning of the film's screening in the Chinese mainland lies in renewing the debate of the rating system."

In 2001, Wang Xingdong, movie director, and a member of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference, was one of the first to call for a film rating system, but over the subsequent six years, the idea has only remained on the lips of some senior officials of the State Administration of Radio, Film and Television (SARFT).

After watching the censored version of "Lust, Caution", Dong Yanbin, a doctoral student in Beijing, filed a lawsuit against SARFT as well as UME, the cinema showing the film, for infringing upon his "consumer rights", according to local media reports.

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