AMG Review of Lust, Caution [Original Motion Picture Soundtrack]

William Ruhlmann
All Music Guide

French composer Alexandre Desplat, who took on an assignment to score a period Asian drama with #The Painted Veil, returns to the same sort of milieu for director Ang Lee's Lust, Caution, set in Shanghai in the 1940s. Desplat has no interest in evoking traditional Chinese music; rather, his is a thoroughly European approach. He employs almost all strings and lots of them, adding only the occasional piano, his own flute, and "programming." This is slow, contemplative music with strong melodies, all contributing to a dark, romantic tone. Alain Planes' performance of Brahms' "Intermezzo in A-Major, Opus 118, No. 2" fits right in, and, surprisingly, Lee himself takes to the piano on "Nanjing Road." This is a restrained, low-key score for a film of mystery and naunced feeling.