Taipei - In a move seen as a victory against censorship of films, Taiwan on Friday approved the screening of Ang Lee's controversial film Lust, Caution without cutting the film's nude scenes.
The Government Information Office (GIO) issued the license for Lust, Caution to be shown as a 'Restricted Category' film, but nothing will be deleted.
'As the naked scenes aroused lots of controversy, we invited five representatives from the public to form a screening committee to review the film, and they all agreed that the film can be shown in its entirety,' the GIO said.
The date for releasing the film will be decided by individual cinemas.
Lust, Caution is about a woman falling in love with a spy during the Sino-Japanese war in Shanghai, China. It won the Golden Lion award at the Venice Film Festival, although some critics criticized its sex scenes, saying Ang Lee emphasized only lust and threw caution to the wind.
China allowed the film to be shown in mainland Chinese cinemas after cutting 30 minutes' footage, saying the removal of the sex scenes would not affect the story of the film.
As Ang Lee, now a US citizen, was born in Taiwan, the GIO will award Lee and his production company 10 million Taiwan dollars (300,000 US dollars) each, and wants Lust, Caution to represent Taiwan to compete for the 2008 Oscar for Best Foreign Language Film on September 8.
Ang Lee, hailed as the 'Glory of Taiwan' by the Taiwan government and Taiwan press, is expected to return to Taiwan to attend the premier of Lust, Caution later this month or early next month.
© 2007 dpa - Deutsche Presse-Agentur 
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