Gladio Free Europe
a sort of movie, sort of history podcast

Dec 8, 2021

Lust, Caution ft. Carl Zha

Carl Zha joins us to discuss Ang Lee’s Lust, Caution, a film about a secret agent that must seduce then assassinate an official who works for the Japanese puppet government in Shanghai.


Japanese-occupied China was a place of immense violence and constant intrigues. We invited Carl Zha to talk about the 2007 film Lust, Caution and the real-life events that inspired the movie. We glide through the history of Sino-Japanese relations, the reasons for China’s pitiable situation at the turn of the 20th century, and the greatest real life version of “you either die a hero, or live long enough to see yourself become a villain” of the 20th century, the ill-fated story of Wang Jingwei and his collaborationist regime.

Check out Carl’s podcast, Silk and Steel.

Hosted by Russian Sam, Halal Sam, and Carl Zha.


You can subscribe on Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts, and Spotify. If you’re using something else, this RSS link should let you add the podcast to whatever app you like. If you’d like to directly download this episode, click here.

Tagged: china japan war movie