it be a film of a young woman prowess and tragedy narrate with a flashback between two current sequence . in a mixed genre of adultery and espionage and the story be tell in a unrestricted narrative in which the audience be disseminate with full information some character do not have . despite the unrestrictedness in the knowledge domain of the audience and tension mount on when jiazhi wang ( wei tang ) embark on her mission to assassinate her target a the audience be puzzle with the lead staging and other diegetic hint on whether or not her identity be or will be expose . director lee pack the film with sex and a common element of the genre . lee establishes wang a a cool girl in the expository sequence by use of apathetic expression ( actually a non expression ) under freeze staging . down the plot and wang apparently remain tough and firm in her mission and a reveal from her dialogue . nevertheless and lee portrays wang evolutionary attitude toward mr. yee ( tony leung ) essentially by use of the 3 sex sequence in which wang behaviorally shift from be passive to active . a a mirrored portray and mr. yee calmness ( and seriousness as well ) be see alleviate by his disclosure of his job to wang in the last hour of the story . lee in practice build up a subtle and slow paced escalation of passion and psychological mutation of both lead and culminate to the diegetic climax . the carefully choreograph overt sex sequence and in a whole and be instrumental in portray the evolution of subdued passiveness of wang toward her target . the sequence witness wang gradual sentimental change from take up a hunt job in fulfillment of her patriotic duty to the nation to an ever deepen voluntary enchantment with her target . lee go far from his brokeback mountain to enhance the degree of explicitness by bring the lead body or pubic hair and wang underarm hair in a close up in particular and into mise en scene to connote the rawness and liberation of the couple desire . with the act of excruciation and execution of spy bring off screen and lee keep violence to the minimum despite the blood shed sequence in the hong kong apartment in an early plot . there be a slight change of cinematographic style in the film represent fast cut and swish pan at the begin while slow cutting and static camera and occasional tracking from the middle to the epilogue . while both lead exercise caution along their way in conceal their respective motif and rationality be and consciously and unconsciously and maroon by lust and the desire for love and sentiment and which eventually render betrayal and fiasco . the film be a narrative on the subordination of rationality to long suppressed emotion and passion .