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Ang Lee has filmed love stories in a variety of genres, from the cowboy drama "Brokeback Mountain" to the period piece "Sense and Sensibility" to the martial-arts fantasy "Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon." In his newest film, the NC-17-rated "Lust, Caution," the Taiwanese director offers a spy romance set in World War II-era Shanghai. According to Mr. Lee, the movie borrows much from America's film-noir tradition. Below, his favorite dark film romances.

'The Letter' (1940)

Based on a play by W. Somerset Maugham, this melodrama stars Bette Davis as a rubber-plantation owner's wife in Singapore who commits a deadly crime of passion. "It's not politically correct," says Mr. Lee, referring to the Asian stereotypes. "But sometimes you need exotic elements to get into that core of darkness."

'Laura' (1944)

In Otto Preminger's celebrated mystery, a police detective falls in love with the dead woman whose murder he's investigating. "You don't know where it's going and it's so less predictable than today's movies," says Mr. Lee. "And when you get to the end, it's not really about darkness, but about romance."

'Double Indemnity' (1944)

Nominated for seven Academy awards, this Billy Wilder film follows Fred MacMurray's insurance investigator as he falls for Barbara Stanwyck's femme fatale. "I just love the way they talk and the music and the use of shadows," says Mr. Lee. "Growing up in middle school in Taiwan, I was such a big fan of Billy Wilder."

'The Big Sleep' (1946)

Howard Hawks's legendary detective story stars Humphrey Bogart as the tough Raymond Chandler private eye Philip Marlowe, who is hired by a rich family under false pretenses, and Lauren Bacall as the heiress he can't resist. "It's great writing," says Mr. Lee. "I didn't realize 'dirty' could be used in such an effective way."

'Chinatown' (1974)

Though Roman Polanski's thriller was filmed in the 1970s, it played off the tropes of 1940s film noir, with Jack Nicholson as a troubled detective and Faye Dunaway as his abused paramour. "It's just a great movie," says Mr. Lee. "So well-written, so smart, and it deals with our mysterious innermost fears and desires."

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