Boos for Ang Lee as director takes top prize for film about wartime lust

The Venice Film Festival ended on a sour note as critics booedthe fact that the ultimate prize had been awarded to Ang Lee'ssexually explicit thriller.

The director was a popular choice two years ago when his gaycowboy epic Brokeback Mountain won the Golden Lion, but the reactionwas very different when it was announced that he had won again -this time for Lust, Caution (Se, Jie). Critics in the press room,watching the ceremony on a big screen, booed loudly when it wasannounced.

At a post-verdict news conference, Zhang Yimou the jurypresident, said "all the force and power of heaven" would not beenough to guarantee a decision that kept everybody happy.

The …