What is the rationale for director Lou Ye to name the movie Summer Palace, or known as Yi He Yuan in Mandarin? Perhaps it is because, the story begins with a girl named Yu Hong (Hao Lei) who was sharing her passionate moments with her boyfriend Xiao Jun at Tumen, a rural area at the border between China and North Korea in the 80's, before leaving the hometown to study in a university in Beijing.
And perhaps it is because when her new friend, Li Ti, introduces Zhou Wei (Guo Xiao Dong) to her, that makes Yu Hong and Zhou Wei falling in love with each other instantly, that they spend their summer in dormitory, having endless sex. Their relationship has been going on and off during this period, until the Tiananmen incident broke out in 1989, which causes deaths to hundreds of university students in China.
For that, you have seen half of the story. And yes, that is what we get for Summer Palace, without seeing much direct relationship between the famous imperial palace and the love and sex of a young couple.
As what Yu Hong said in her diary, she is excited to meet new guys, but always ends up having sex with them as she thinks of her first time meeting Zhou Wei. The message we received from her was: sex has been an outlet to release her fear and anxiety, together with the love she still holds for Zhou Wei.
Lou Ye has explained the inner world of Yu Hong in the first half of the story. But the second half seems to drag the movie down. The movie continues with the government declaring an state of emergency during the Tiananmen incident, and it was fast forward to the year 1998, with footages of several incidents that took place in China and the communist country in the world. The next moment, we see how Yu Hong and Zhou Wei lead their individual life in ShenZhen and Berlin respectively, without much explanation on what has happened to them throughout the years.
To make the dry spell more unbearable, the 140 minutes drama lacks a solid detail to support a good storyline. Not much details were explained, which makes the movie pretty dull and draggy. The sex scenes featured in the film also makes it seems to be a cheap pornographic production. But, to the filmmakers in China, Summer Palace is the first made in China production that openly explores sex, which is very rare. The explicitness of the scenes has made Summer Palace the first movie in China that is challenging the censors of China. (Which explains why the movie was banned in China for discussion of Tiananmen incident, tonnes of sex scenes and participating in Cannes Film Festival without approval from the authorities.) The summer could be enjoyable if more juices can be provided in the palace.
And perhaps it is because when her new friend, Li Ti, introduces Zhou Wei (Guo Xiao Dong) to her, that makes Yu Hong and Zhou Wei falling in love with each other instantly, that they spend their summer in dormitory, having endless sex. Their relationship has been going on and off during this period, until the Tiananmen incident broke out in 1989, which causes deaths to hundreds of university students in China.
For that, you have seen half of the story. And yes, that is what we get for Summer Palace, without seeing much direct relationship between the famous imperial palace and the love and sex of a young couple.
As what Yu Hong said in her diary, she is excited to meet new guys, but always ends up having sex with them as she thinks of her first time meeting Zhou Wei. The message we received from her was: sex has been an outlet to release her fear and anxiety, together with the love she still holds for Zhou Wei.
Lou Ye has explained the inner world of Yu Hong in the first half of the story. But the second half seems to drag the movie down. The movie continues with the government declaring an state of emergency during the Tiananmen incident, and it was fast forward to the year 1998, with footages of several incidents that took place in China and the communist country in the world. The next moment, we see how Yu Hong and Zhou Wei lead their individual life in ShenZhen and Berlin respectively, without much explanation on what has happened to them throughout the years.
To make the dry spell more unbearable, the 140 minutes drama lacks a solid detail to support a good storyline. Not much details were explained, which makes the movie pretty dull and draggy. The sex scenes featured in the film also makes it seems to be a cheap pornographic production. But, to the filmmakers in China, Summer Palace is the first made in China production that openly explores sex, which is very rare. The explicitness of the scenes has made Summer Palace the first movie in China that is challenging the censors of China. (Which explains why the movie was banned in China for discussion of Tiananmen incident, tonnes of sex scenes and participating in Cannes Film Festival without approval from the authorities.) The summer could be enjoyable if more juices can be provided in the palace.