Product Description From the director of Purple Butterfly and Suzhou River comes Lou Ye's sprawling epic Summer Palace . Yu Hong (Lei Hao) is a rebellious young woman from a small Chinese town transplanted to a politically charged Beijing University in the late 1980s. The country's social turmoil is witnessed through its disaffected youth, whose newfound sexuality and activism culminate in violent suppression. Spanning nearly 20 years of modern Chinese history, Summer Palace projects the country's struggle for definition through the eyes and heart of a young woman illequipped to handle it. While drifting between the arms of two men, her love fervent for both, Yu Hong's existential crisis mirrors that of her nation. Will the chaos of society lead her to its same tragic fate? .com Summer Palace, a politically charged drama from director Lou Ye (Purple Butterfly, Suzhou River), telling the story of Chinese political upheaval through the eyes of protagonist Yu Hong (Lei Hao) who moves from her rural community to embrace life in Beijing. Spanning nearly 20 years, the film elucidates the mindset of the Chinese revolutionary youth during the 1980s and into the new millennium through its narration by Hong, who reads diary excerpts to set scenes. Though footage of the Tiananmen Square demonstrations spliced in among the dramatized imagery relegated Summer Palace to banned status by the Chinese government, the film feels tame compared to Western dramas. In it, Yu falls in love with Zhou Wei (Xiaodong Guo), who haunts her in later relationships once she leaves school. Strikingly romantic, Summer Palace is slow-paced but cinematically lovely, with long sequences illustrating dorm room life, dates, dinner parties, and Hong's intimate exchanges with girlfriends like Li Ti (Ling Hu). Dark indoor settings alternate with sunlit outdoor moments, to set a moody, reflective tone. As Hong matures emotionally and sexually, we meet other lovers like Xiao Jun (Lin Cui), but passion between her and Zhou Wei never weakens. To the film's credit, the love story doesn't flatten or oversimplify the complex historical plot that explains how innocent students could be considered threats to conservative political regimes. Though meandering, Summer Palace encapsulates an important moment in Chinese history and will especially enlighten viewers to the nuances of people struggling for freedom. --Trinie Dalton
I**D
A culturally courageous and moving work of art
The film was very moving and thoughtful. You get an inside glimpse into a particular aspect of Asian culture both on a personal and political level. I am not usually one to give much credence to the rationale behind a movie especially from a director's perspective. Having studied literary criticism, one can begin to see very quickly that there are many schools of thought. In this instance, the director's perspective gives you insight into the customs regarding intimacy especially in Asian film. It took a great deal of courage on the part of the actresses to go against the grain of custom in this movie for the sake of realism in film. And on a macro level one can tie in the personal liberation to the greater idea of the attempt at liberation during the events of Tiananmen Square. To be able to have such a motif or theme running on different levels is the mark of a great film and more importantly great art.
S**S
Great film
Essential viewing for anyone interested in Chinese film, as well as a great look at current Chinese culture.Highly recommended.
A**H
about the title of the film the summer palace.........
Thank you for watching this film and have a nice time watching this exquisite film (with Cannes Award). It is my pleasure to present this film to all married couples and hope that all would like this film as what I do. I will try my best to work harder to ensure the next film will not lose in quality as compae to this title and have a nice day reading this message......*This title is one of the better title which I have*Written by:Dr, MR Franc MBBS (PhD) GPS Ang Poon KahDirector Lou Ye - Ang Poon Kah (its me) for the summer palaceDirector Bill Nichie - Ang Poon Kah (its me)for notes on the scandalDirector Bret Wood - Ang Poon Kah (its me) for psychopathia sexualis.Director Ron Howard - Ang Poon Kah (its me) for Da Vinci Code.Director David Yates - Ang Poon Kah (its me) for order of phoenix, HpottDirector Paul Greengrass - Ang Poon Kah (its me) for bourne ultimatum
B**Z
Does not live up to the hype
Summer Palace seems to be widely heralded as one of the top few Chinese films in recent decades. The synopsis portrays this story as the development of a young woman who encounters new romance and tragedy throughout her youth, across the iconic settings of "Beiqing University" (a thinly veiled reference to Peking U), the vaguely alluded Tiananmen incident of 1989, and the white-collar working world of modern urban Chinese.Instead, this film is a highly repetitive unraveling of the heroine's life as she tumbles haplessly from one vanilla sex scene to another. I won't spoil the ending for readers, but I have to say that I was deeply disappointed by the weakness of character development throughout the approximately 10 years that the audience is asked to endure alongside only-moderately sympathetic characters.Summer Palace might be a staple for Chinese film culture, but it is as bland as its gastronomic counterpart: white rice.
D**N
Great story telling
Love is confusing, strange and incomprehensible. True. Look beyond the political chaos, its a perfect gem. Actually the backdrop is not meant to an accurate historical depiction but to draw parallels to the main character's turbulent life.
K**6
good
Fast delivery, product as described
T**M
A slow and dreary drama.
"Summer Palace" is a slow and dreary drama. The main character, a young woman played by Lei Hao, is depressed for no apparent reason, and watching her drift through her life is as exciting as watching grass grow. Hao does nothing but randomly date and break up with men, all the while droning on about it in a tedious narrative. The director also made the even worse "Purple Butterfly". The movie would have been rated R for graphic sex scenes and nudity (which are also dreary).
P**Y
Summer Palace is The Social Network without the plot and the snappy dialogue
Ye Lou's ambitious film ends up being a film that demonstrates a couple of truths about filmmaking. First of all, you need a strong narrative drive and sympathetic (or, at the very least, understandable) characters. Secondly, the director should not attempt to edit the film. Summer Palace ignores both of these dictums and suffers for it. Yu Hong is a sulky girl who drifts through this film in an uncomprehending and incomprehensible way. We get that she has to leave her first love, Wang Bo, in the countryside so as to attend Beijing University, and this makes her unhappy. She then meets another lover, Zhou Wei, and he makes her unhappy. Apart from looking decidedly unhappy, we know she is unhappy because she has at least three long voice-over sequences containing a lot of expository dialogue outlining her unhappiness. Zhou Wei doesn't really have much to do apart from deciding whether he is going to have sex with Yu Hong or Li Ti. Li Ti, apart from being the sometime love interest of Zhou Wei and Ruo Gu, doesn't have anything much to do, goes to Berlin, and kills herself (as you do). Zhou Wei and Yu Hong try to re-establish their previous relationship, but don't in the end (I guess it would spoil their general air of unhappiness). Meantime, we have students dancing to daggy sixties pop music (maybe cool isn't a very Chinese concept); students joyfully climbing onto trucks to go off to Tianamen Square (although it is unclear why); students throwing rocks at a burning military truck until the nice PLA soldiers come along and persuade them to go home; students ambling down the Friedrichstrasse in Berlin (again we don't know why, but this time their are portraits of Marx and Lenin so I guess it is something to do with communism); and finally students having lots of long and boring sex. Man, life was tough in the old China (at least lots of people were pretty unhappy). I would advise anybody interested in Ye Lou's oeuvre, to instead check out Suzhou River. In that film we can see a filmmaker with some promising ideas; in Summer Palace we see a filmmaker who is in danger of losing his way.
A**H
An unforgettable coming of age drama
Summer Palace is in many ways a coming of age movie and a drama about life. If you're watching this movie as some kind of political drama, or any kind of insight into Chinese politics or history, it may be something of a disappointment. But if you're watching this movie as a study of life, about emotions, love and destiny, you will be thoroughly rewarded.Summer Palace is a movie about breaking convention, about individuality and about emotions. It's a study of the uncertainty of youth, the reality that life takes you places you did not plan nor imagine. It teaches that life does not always go the way we plan or imagine, but there is much to celebrate and be happy about.A key strength of the movie is the characters. All the characters are flawed, but thoroughly likeable despite their flaws. Yu Hong is an impulsive, emotion and passion driven person who has no idea what she really wants in life. Zhou Wei is a handsome, masculine and somewhat unfaithful character, but as time reveals, is a rather pensive, considerate, and well meaning man. Li Ti is the enigma, something of a lost soul.The strengths of the movie are not just the storyline and characters, but also the style. The soundtrack works wonderfully, the score and the songs fit the background and mood entirely. The narration and sweep across modern history is well choreographed, and you feel like you are living, or reliving, the events once again.I consider it something of a shame that this movie is banned in China, although touching on the events of 1989 is just asking for trouble. I also consider it a shame that the movie is not more well known in the West, as it truly is one of Chinese cinemas hidden gems.Watch the movie with an open mind, and let yourself go wherever it will take you.
M**F
Bello !
Bella storia cinese ricca di sentimenti, sia gli interpreti sia le ambientazioni sono veramente piacevoli e interessanti, ben venga questo tipo di film !
A**R
Four Stars
Very beautiful and clear pictures. Very enjoyable Time sapent watching this mo vie.
M**B
Great Foreign Language Movie
I’ve been trying to get this movie for a long time in region 2. It’s a classic Chinese movie which I enjoyed. Just unfortunate that the subtitles are not in English. (French and Dutch) Only. But still recommend.
A**R
da vedere
Il dvd mi è arrivato un po in ritardo, ma non per colpa del venditore, comunque sempre gentile e rapido nel rispondere.Il film è molto bello, non facile, lungo. Però lo consiglio poiché ti fa vivere l'ambiente Universitario cinese degli anni ottanta/novanta. Regia importante e attori bravissimi. Consigliatissimo!
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