In a move seen as a victory against film censorship, the Government Information Office (GIO) yesterday approved the screening of Ang Lee's (
`RESTRICTED CATEGORY'
The GIO issued a "Restricted Category" license for Lust, Caution, but no scenes from the film will be censored.
"As the naked scenes aroused a large amount of controversy, we invited five representatives from the public to form a screening committee to review the film, and they all agreed that it should be shown in its entirety," the GIO said.
The date for the release of the film has been provisionally set for Sept. 24.
Lust, Caution is a story about a woman who falls in love with a spy in Shanghai during the Sino-Japanese war.
GOLDEN LION
It won the Golden Lion award at the Venice Film Festival, although some critics criticized its sex scenes, saying that Lee emphasized only lust and threw caution to the wind.
China allowed the film to be shown in its cinemas after censors removed 30 minutes of footage, saying the removal of the sex scenes would not affect the plot of the film.
As Lee, who is now a US citizen, was born in Taiwan, the GIO has decided to award him and his production company NT$10 million (US$300,000) each, and wants Lust, Caution to represent Taiwan at next year's Oscars in the Best Foreign Language Film category.
`GLORY OF TAIWAN'
Lee, who is hailed as the "Glory of Taiwan" by the government and press, is expected to return to Taiwan to attend the premier of the movie later this month or early next month.
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