A Romantic Drama Set in a Time of Change
Summer Palace (2006) is a Mandarin-language film about a willful, passionate young woman grappling with her feelings toward a man she falls madly in love with. The protagonist is intelligent and good-looking, but she has trouble dealing with her emotions. A talented and appealing actress named Lei Hao gives an outstanding performance in the role of the central character.
The story takes place from 1987 to 2001. During this period, the protagonist ages from about 17 to around 31 as she goes through experiences that reflect the enormous socioeconomic changes in China.
About halfway through the film, there's a hectic scene set at Beijing's Tiananmen Square on June 4, 1989, when the Chinese military killed a large number of people demonstrating in favor of democratic reforms. Although most of movie's principal characters are present at the demonstration, none of them are especially politically active: it's just that they're university students caught up in the events of their era.
But Summer Palace is primarily about romantic relationships, and it contains several scenes of lovemaking that are integral to the story. These are slightly more realistic than in R-rated movies, but done tastefully.
Summer Palace is definitely not for everyone. The narrative meanders, the characters are enigmatic, the actors and most locations are unfamiliar to Westerners, and the music sometimes gives the movie a soapy quality. But filmmaker Lou Ye has an intriguing sensibility, and for the majority of people who like foreign films, this is one worth seeing.
A Story in Two Parts: Pre-Tienanmen and Post-Tienanmen
The first half of Summer Palace takes place from 1987 to 1989 and captures the restlessness, confusion and hopefulness of youth. The protagonist, Yu Hong (Lei Hao), is introduced as a teenage girl living in a provincial Chinese town. But her life changes radically when she goes to the capital city to study at Beijing University, where she meets new friends and strives to experience life more and more intensely. She gets into a love affair with Zhou Wei (Xiaodong Guo), but it's a stormy relationship punctuated by breakups. Eventually he does something that upsets her profoundly, and around that same time the mood at the university darkens because of the Tienanmen Square Massacre.
The second half of the film takes place from 1989 to 2001, and all the principal characters seem disappointed and disaffected, leading to an abortion and a suicide. Yu Hong drops out of school, leaves Beijing and works in various cities. She takes lovers, but she yearns for Zhou Wei. Meanwhile, he and two other students from the movie's first half go to Berlin to pursue their studies. The story is digressive, and the final scenes, which are set at the Chinese seaside resort of Beidaihe, give it a melancholy ending.
About the Film's Title
Toward the outskirts of Beijing lies the Summer Palace, a parklike place occupying several square miles that is noted for its elegant garden and large, beautiful lake. It was once used by royalty as a retreat from the city center during hot weather, but since about 1911, it has been open to the public. The movie contains a lyrical sequence where Yu Hong and Zhou Wei are alone together in a rowboat on the lake at the Summer Palace. This occurs when they are at their happiest as a couple and probably represents to her the most magical time in her life.
A Making-Of Documentary and a Featurette on Censorship
The DVD contains a fairly good 37-minute making-of documentary that gives you a chance to see director Lou Ye work on the movie and hear him talk about it. He also co-wrote the screenplay. Lou states that he doesn't want his finished film to be a stilted construction with a clear beginning, middle and end — instead, he wants it to feel organic. He also says that after Tienanmen, the Chinese government spent the next 10 years allowing more democracy and freedom and developing the economy at full throttle, and this is shown in the second half of his film.
The DVD packaging bears the words "banned by the Chinese government," and this presumably came about because of the movie's handling of the Tienanmen Square Massacre, as well as the sex scenes and nudity. On the DVD itself, there is an interesting six-minute featurette on Chinese censorship, which deals mostly with Lou Ye being banned from participating in any kind of filmmaking activities for five years. This apparently is punishment for showing Summer Palace at the Cannes Film Festival without the approval of Chinese officials.
DVD Details
Listed below are the details for the DVD containing Summer Palace.
Release Date: March 11, 2008
Feature Film Runtime: 2 hours 15 minutes
MPAA Rating: Not Rated
Widescreen (16:9), Color
Mandarin 5.1 Dolby Surround
Mandarin 2.0 Stereo
English Subtitles
Making-Of Documentary (37 minutes)
Featurette on Chinese Censorship (6 minutes)
Theatrical Trailer
