Focus won't sweat NC-17 for 'Lust'

August 24, 2007 Distributor Focus Features said it won't edit the Oscar-winning Lee's follow-up to "Brokeback Mountain" or try to appeal the rating -- which says that no one 17 and under will be admitted -- creating potential distribution problems for its awards-season contender. "Lust" follows a young Chinese woman in Japanese-occupied Shanghai during World War II who becomes the center of a plot to seduce and kill a married enemy collaborator. There's no full-frontal male nudity (the source of some NC-17 rulings when shown in sex scenes), but male-on-female oral sex, non-S&M restraints and several nontraditional sexual positions are depicted, conveying the aggression and emotional conflict between the main characters.

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