THE NC-16 version of 'Lust, Caution' released last month in Singapore was 148 minutes long. Any individual resourceful enough to check IMDB for filmmaker Lee Ang's latest masterpiece would know that the movie’s full running time is 157 minutes.

So what was in those missing nine minutes?

Watch out for these three best scenes in the R21 version that's currently playing in cinemas.

The violent murder scene of an associate of Mr. Yee.
The murder scene shows repeated stabbings by Kuang (the head of the drama group) and the rest of the males in the group. Fumbling and clumsily executing their victim at best, the young idealistic students are awakened to the harsh realities of having to kill to fight for their cause.

The requisite ‘de-virginization’ of Wong Chia Chi by her fellow drama troupe cohort.
The first of the much-touted sex scenes happens almost an hour and a half into the movie. In order to pass-off as the married Mak Tai Tai, Wong Chia Chi has her first sex with the only sexually experienced male in the drama group, while the rest pretend to go about their daily routine with unease.

Wong Chia Chi (as Mak Tai Tai) and Mr. Yee’s first sexual encounter. Brutal is the word to describe Mak Tai Tai’s and Mr. Yee’s first sexual encounter. Graphic in nature, the sexual act is one of aggression and hardly titillates the senses. It is gut-wrenching to watch as would be the rest of the sex scenes to come.

'Lust, Caution' is an erotic espionage thriller set in World War II Shanghai about a torrid love affair of a young woman (Wong Chia Chi), enlisted by the Chinese resistance movement to seduce a high-ranking Japanese collaborator marked for assassination (Mr. Yee) and the object of her seduction himself.

It is based on the short story by revered Chinese author Eileen Chang and stars Asian cinema icon Tony Leung opposite screen newcomer Tang Wei.

Last September it won the Golden Lion for Best Film at the Venice Film Festival, the world's most credible international film festival..

Most of the talk surrounding Ang Lee’s latest masterpiece was about supposedly controversial sex scenes that some said bordered on being pornographic.

It was the director himself who deleted these scenes in the movie's NC-16 format — thus the argument by the film's distributors that it was still an "original" and not a censored version.

For those who have held-out from watching the lighter version, last week's showing in Singapore of the R21 release spells victory for artistic integrity.

Those who had seen the previous version also say the uncut release is better, as it shows the director's original vision.

The audience are also able to appreciate the depth of characterization and the motivation behind the characters actions.

In the sex scenes, for example, one can just imagine the struggle and pain Wong Chia Chi had to endure to bring about her mission.

With each act of submission, she draws herself closer to Mr. Yee, enabling a deeper level of trust, a connection formed by co-dependency.

The viewer is left to question when the line between duty-bound role-playing and that of love brought about by all-consuming passion was crossed.

While these scenes do punctuate the deliberately slow-paced film, the beauty of the movie is in the Asian nuances that are captured in the director’s attention to detail with each framed scene.

It is for this reason that the film has met mixed reaction in different parts of the world.

One may argue that the subtlety of how Asians express themselves is something foreign and can easily be missed by the Western world.

But for Ang Lee, how the film is received in Asia is what matters most.

By all indications, he has yet again delivered a cinematic masterpiece and has done us proud.