ironhorse_iv Review of Summer Palace

Summer Palace (2006)

This movie doesn't felt like a summer palace. It felt more like falling in a dark, wet and gloomy sinkhole. It's downright depressing.

[6/10 · 4 March 2017]

I really wanted to like this fictional movie from director Lou Ye. After all, I can understanding that falling in love is indeed strange, confusing, and beyond anybody understanding, besides the lover, but after watching this movie, I can say, this movie is not watchable. It's just too bland and somewhat unpleasant. We get it, Lou Ye! Falling in love and living in Communist China is indeed misery. I don't think, a highly repetitive movie with no character development about the passionate but volatile love affairs of an unstable young woman, Yu Hong (Hao Yei) was needed. After all, dealing with real-life is depressing enough, so why the audience waste time, watching more of that negative BS in reel-life. Don't get me wrong, I was going to stand by this movie, even if I'm going to stand alone, if the character disaffection with society and her use of sex as a substitute for contentment, led somewhere. Sadly, it does not. In the end, the movie about a woman's self-reflection on why she couldn't comfort in the arms of different lovers led nowhere, and was pretty much pointless as it didn't solve any of her mental problems. It doesn't help that the tone for this film really horrible. Barely any scenes that seem lovely, even when Hong isn't crying or being overdramatic. It doesn't help the audience that the sex scenes are not made to look romantic at all, with the undifferentiated partners, barely haven't any stimulation, while going at it. For a film to be one of the first from mainland China to feature the full-frontal adult nudity of both its male and female leads; it just felt too tame to care about their relationships. While, I have to say, Hao Yei is a great actress, the material that she was given, was just below average. Plus, it was a bit odd that Lou Ye pick Hao Yei, because she turn him down, fearing the sex scenes would hurt her love relationship. It's equally as weird as the entire crew had to waited patiently for Hao to accept, for so long that the original choice for Zhou Wei, Liu Ye, had to abandon the project. Hao was very touched by Lou Ye's actions and agreed, request to but her relationship with actor Deng Chao did end as a result. Still, I have to question if this was a great choice for Hao. After all, it's not really a realistic picture of the student life, here, because, all her character was doing was having sex and moaning about it. In my opinion, I think Lou Ye, pretty much exploit Hao Yei. Why, because ask yourselves, this, when did her character, get any time to study!? It doesn't help the movie that Hong's political views are never, truly explored as well. So, when the backdrop of the Tiananmen Square protests of 1989, came. It seem to come, out of the blue for Hong to want to join. Though footage of the Tiananmen Square demonstrations are indeed spliced in among the dramatized imagery. Seeing, how there was no appearance of Hong talking to any of the key student leaders, or her, at the Square, protesting. It felt like a waste of time. I get that, the political movement was no more than a momentary sensation hiccup for Hong as she go on with her alienated most self-centered live, but couldn't they portray it, better than, just a few brief sequence of Hong's friends checking out the streets, while Hong moans. Don't get me wrong, Hu Lingling & Guo Xiaodong were fine as Hong's friends, Li-Ti and Zhou Wei, but it was a really sad portrayal of key event in China history. It felt a little bit shoehorn, seeing how it barely affect Hong's life like the scenes in Germany. To add insult to the misery; the movie doesn't really do a good job capturing life in China during the Cold War at all. The clothes, the schools, and the sites, just doesn't look like 1980's Beijing. Perhaps, the most jarring thing in this film, has to be, hearing western style music in bars, where all the characters go to. I really doubt that. Another thing, that hurt this film for me, is how badly shot, it was. Hua Qing is a really bad, cinematographer. It was really blurry at parts, or way too pitch black. I can barely see, what's going on. Yet, another problem, this movie has, is really bad pacing with a 140 minute running time. It takes forever to get anywhere. Overall: I get that this coming to age movie was going for a French New Wave feel to it, with Hong, narrating her life in somewhat a poetic way, but I had to say, it kinda failed. It felt tame compared to other Western dramas from Cannes Film Festival, that year. It's just not as good as certain critics think it is. While, I do understand, why the Chinese government banned this movie, due to the sex scenes and political undertones. I just don't see, why people should still see this movie. It's just painful to watch. Sadly, because of that. I just can't recommended seeing.