20. Lust, Caution (2007)
Ang Lee already had a Golden Lion for Brokeback Mountain when he won another for this slow-burning espionage drama (featuring headline-hogging sex scenes between Tony Leung and Tang Wei) about a patriotic theatre group in wartime Hong Kong plotting to bring down the collaborationist Chinese government. One resonant line – “If you pay attention, nothing is trivial” – feels like a manifesto for cinema or art or life itself.