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Summer Palace (2008) DVD Review
Summer Palace (2008) DVD Credits:
Summer Palace (2008) Directed by:
Ye Lou
Summer Palace (2008) Written by:
Ye Lou, Feng Mei
Summer Palace (2008) Cast:
Xueyun Bai, Lin Cui, Long Duan, Xiadong Guo, Lei Hao, Ling Hu, Chi Le, Xianmin Zhang
Summer Palace (2008) Released by:
Not available at this time
Region:
1
Summer Palace (2008) DVD Release Date:
10th March 2008
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Summer Palace (2008) Synopsis:

Country girl Yu Hong leaves her village, her family and her lover to study in Beijing. At university, she discovers an intense world of sexual freedom and forbidden pleasure. Enraptured, compulsive, she falls madly in love with fellow student Zhou Wei. Driven by obsessive passions they can neither understand nor control, their relationship becomes one of dangerous games - betrayals, recriminations, provocations - as all around them, their fellow students begin to demonstrate, demanding democracy and freedom. Protests collapse, and Yu and Zhou lose each other amidst the social chaos and panicked crowds. Zhou Wei is sent to a summer military camp, and on his release moves to Berlin, fleeing both his country and memories of Yu. She finds a job, a lover, but can not forget Zhou. In Germany, social unrest is mounting: calls for freedom, demonstrations for democracy. A familiar story for Zhou. Weary, still haunted by Yu, he returns to China as the Berlin Wall crashes down. He finds her at last, in a small town. From evening to dawn, their future stretches before them, two changed souls in a changed world.

Summer Palace (2008) DVD Review:

Summer Palace is the story of the perpetually emo Yu Hong (played by Lei Ho). After getting accepted to Beijing University in 1988, she leaves her boyfriend Xiao Jun (Lin Cui) and small village behind. In the big city she finds freedom, along with the maturity and sorrow that sometimes comes with it. There, her friend Li Ti (Ling Hu) and her boyfriend Wang Bo (Xueyun Bai) introduce Yu Hong to Zhou Wei (Xiandong Guo). This begins a relationship full of passion, scandal, and heartbreak; all set against the backdrop of the confrontation at Tiananmen Square. After the infamous incident, the quartet part ways. Eight years later, the story continues: Yu Hong is still sexually frustrated while the other three are residing together in Berlin. Through another set of disasters Zhou Wei returns to China and finally reunite after a ten-year hiatus with Yu Hong. Can their relationship move on after such a long time apart?

Despite the language barrier the first half of the film is easy for young Americans to connect subject matter wise. However, the films pacing and style hinders the movie. The film is excessively long, with a run time of two hours and twenty minutes. The film commonly uses montage and jump cuts where scenes should have just been cut. Also, there is hardly any score or dialogue to help the pacing of the film. Without the dialogue, the audience must depend on Lei Ho’s facial movements to reveal the story.

Speaking of lack of score, some musical accompaniment might have made the numerous sex scenes more tolerable. The audience is left with un-edited coitus and only the ambient sound of erotic grunts and groans. At least the sex scenes have symbolic meaning. As Yu Hong becomes more liberated, the sex scenes become more explicit.

However, when the film does include music, it is all for the best. The score consists mainly of minimalist hauntingly beautiful music, always portending the trouble ahead. Other songs brought into the film represent the mindset of Yu Hong at the time. For example, “Flight of the Bumblebees” plays in the background to Yu Hong’s voiceover about confusion in her life. The musical selections even mature as the characters do, switching from popular songs of the 80s to classical music.

The cinematography also reflects the character’s emotions. The film begins dark and gritty, but immediately becomes bright and fluid when Yu Hong starts college. However, I desired less handheld shots and more use of the tripod.

The special features reflect the film exactly. The behind the scenes portion takes forever to get into. It does reveal a strong relationship between the actors and director, Ye Lou. But, like the film, it is too long. The featurette about Chinese censorship runs only five minutes, and explains why the use of Tiananmen Square as a backdrop prevented the film from being released or even viewed in China.

With the upcoming Olympics in Beijing, it is interesting to see how stifling the Chinese government still is. In the last featurette, the French producer Sylvain Bursztejn laments how government control stifles the creative minds of young Chinese filmmakers. I may have found fault with this film, but I could only wish that Ye Lou and his peers would be encouraged to reach their obvious potential.

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Summer Palace (2008) DVD review written by: Lyz Reblin

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