Ang Lee has always been a director who goes against the grain, whether tackling Jane Austen with "Sense and Sensibility" or trying to make a psychologically deft comic-book movie with "The Hulk." Yet, after winning the Best Director Oscar for "Brokeback Mountain," many would have expected Lee to make a star-driven drama featuring Brad, Julia, Tom, Denzel or Russell to try to win another Academy Award. Lee did nothing of the sort. Instead, he returned to his Chinese roots with the period drama "Lust, Caution."

Set in Shanghai during the World War II Japanese occupation in the early 1940s, "Lust" finds an idealistic acting student, Wang Jiazhi (newcomer Tang Wei), becoming a spy for the resistance. Her mission is simple: trap a married, nationalist collaborator, Mr. Yee (Tony Leung), who has become infatuated with her. Lee first discovered the original short story many years ago, but he revisited it and began working on a screenplay during his promotional activities for "Brokeback." He says he sees much of his life in the film's characters, including Jiazhi's first experience acting in an ensemble on stage.

"My first time on stage -- that's basically how I shot the stage scene. That's how I felt," Lee says. "My life changed and I woke up with friends. So, when I read that, I felt like it was calling [me]."

Surprisingly, the romantic and sexual nature of the film was secondary to the filmmaker. It was the historical context that really sold him. He notes, "That period is very attractive to me. That's the first time it's been [captured] on screen."

However, controversy has flared over the passionate sex scenes between Mr. Yee and Jiazhi, which landed the film an NC-17 rating in the United States (though it feels like an R-rated movie to most moviegoers). Reports have said Chinese censors cut out 30 minutes of the picture so it could play in mainland China, but Lee says that's not true.

"It's about 7 or 8 minutes that have been cut out," Lee says. "I think some journalist made an exclamation or remark after seeing it in Venice, 'How could they get a license? Are they going to cut 30 minutes?' So, I think everybody started to quote that. It's the same story, you get the same meaning, but it feels different. To me, it's the best part they cut out."

Lee isn't sure what he'll do next, but he's certain he doesn't want to make another movie in China anytime soon, not only because of the difficulties of shooting there but also because of the civic responsibility he feels as one of the nation's most acclaimed filmmakers.

"Here I am just, like, one of hundreds of directors," Lee says. "There I get all the attention. So, I can't really breathe."

"Lust, Caution" is now playing in limited release.

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