電影《色∣戒》問世後，有兩派學者由索隱與自傳的路線追問張愛玲原著小說〈色，戒〉的意義。一派學者考察著此故事證據與當年上海間諜圈中真實的刺殺案之間的關係，另一派學者則探問此則故事情節與張愛玲自身的感情身世有關。∗但筆者試以法國思想家巴塔耶的愛慾論闡發論說《色∣戒》（電影）與〈色，戒〉（小說）的思想精義。巴塔耶認為，人類特有的「死亡禁忌」與「性禁忌」乃「神聖世界」與「世俗世界」之中介，通過了死亡與性禁忌，人類將由有秩序的俗世界之中「越界」（transgress）到聖世界。故愛慾（色）乃是人類在禁忌（戒）之後特有的神聖／神秘之內在經驗。最後，筆者將主張，李安《色∣戒》有其「色相」之一面，故內蘊「為世所戒」的思想，屬於東方式的世故與了然，從而超出了愛慾論的疆界。

After the movie “Lust∣Caution” was released, two schools of scholars have tried to explain the significances of this film, one by the Puzzle-Out-Obscure-Meanings approach and the other by the autobiographic approach. One school of scholars investigate the relation between the story and the real assassination in Shanghai spy circles in 1943. Another school of scholars inquire into the relation between the plot of this film and Eileen Chang’s own love affairs. However, I will try to explain the aesthetic significance of “Lust∣Caution” by Bataille’s theory of Eroticism. Bataille believed that “death taboo” and “sex taboo” are the intermediaries between “sacred world” and “profane world”. Through taboos, human beings can transgress from profane to the sacred world, and eros (lust) is the sacred and mystical inner experience for human beings after transgressing taboos.