In the leisurely-paced Summer Palace, director Lou Ye combines fluid camerawork with an impressionistic narrative spanning nearly two decades. Beginning in 1987, the story follows introverted Yu Hong (Hao Lei), who leaves her provincial boyfriend behind when she goes off to Beijing University. Once in the city, Yu drifts aimlessly until she's befriended by the outgoing Li Ti (Hu Ling), who introduces her to the idealistic Zhou Wei (Guo Xiaodong), with whom she enters into a tempestuous relationship. After the pro-democracy protests at Tiananmen Square, Yu drops out of school, Li moves to Berlin, and Zhou enters the military, traveling to Europe. Yu drifts from place to place and man to man, all the while thinking about Zhou, but making no effort to contact him. Eventually, Yu settles down, and Zhou returns from Europe, but the events of 1989 appear to have crushed their collective spirits. On the surface, Summer Palace may not sound controversial, but Chinese authorities sentenced Lou Ye to a five-year filmmaking ban due to the Tiananmen footage and “sexually explicit” material (full frontal male and female nudity). An intimate story built around one of China's most notorious historic events in the late 20th century, this is recommended. [DVD extras include two featurettes: “The Making of Summer Palace” and “Summer Palace and Chinese Censorship.” Bottom line: a small but solid extras package for a fine film.] (K. Fennessy)
Summer Palace
Palm, 140 min., in Mandarin & German w/English subtitles, not rated, DVD: $24.99 Volume 23, Issue 3
Summer Palace
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