SUMMER PALACE (FILM)

'''Summer Palace''' (), is a 2006 film and the fourth feature film by director Lou Ye. The film was a Chinese-French collaboration produced by Dream Factory, Laurel Films, Fantasy Pictures and Sylvain Bursztejn's Rosem Films. It was also made in association with France's Ministere de la Culture & de la Communication, Ministere des Affaires Etrangeres and Centre National de la Cinématographie (CNC).Though banned in China, it has been picked up for distribution in the United States by Palm Pictures.
The film deals with young student played by Hao Lei who leaves her small hometown to study at Beijing University. There she meets a fellow student and begins an intense romantic relationship in the backdrop of the Tiananmen Square protests of 1989. The film is named after the Summer Palace located in Beijing.

Contents

Cast

Reception

Ban and controversy

References

See also

External links

Cast

★ Hao Lei — 'Hong Yu' - the film's heroine, a young student at Beijing University

★ Guo Xiaodong — 'Wei Zhou' - Hong Yu's love interest

★ Hu Lingling — 'Li Ti' - Hong Yu's roommate

★ Zhang Xianmin — 'Ruo Gu'

Reception

''Summer Palace'' was screened at several international film festivals, notably Cannes, Toronto, and Mill Valley.
Critics have been generally positive in praise citing the film's ambition and scope, with the most common complaint being the film's excessive length at 140 minutes. Derek Elley of Variety claims the film is "half an hour too long."^[1] The Daily Telegraph, meanwhile, also mentions the "thirty minutes too long" complaint as well as stating that the film is nevertheless a "a raw and unsettling new work."^[2] The Guardian, meanwhile, also found the film "over-long and meandering," but also "stylish [and] atmospheric."^[3]

Ban and controversy

The film was in competition at the 2006 Cannes Film Festival but failed to garner any awards. Though ''Summer Palace'' was the only Asian film in competition for the Palme d'Or, Lou and his producers had not received approval from Chinese censors, thus instigating their official censure by the Chinese State Administration of Radio, Film, and Television.^[4] Lou, however, has stated that the reason for the ban was for "technical reasons" in that the film was not up to the Beijing Film Bureau's standards for picture and sound quality.^[5]
The director and the movie's producer were forbidden by to make any new films for five years.

References

1. Summer Palace Derek Elley
2. Cannes 2006: love in Paris and hatred in Ireland Sukhdev Sandhu
3. Give Pedro the prize Jason Solomons
4. China gives 'Palace' pair 5-year bans Variety Staff
5. 'Banned filmmaker' is a relative term Arthur Jones

See also

★ ''The Blue Kite''

★ Banned films, China

★ Censorship in the People's Republic of China

External links

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★ ''Summer Palace'' at MonkeyPeaches