Summer Palace

Watched Summer Palace just now with Derrick at The Cathay. This movie is banned in China as the director had submitted the film to overseas film festivals without the government's approval. It had stirred up quite a controversy due to its explicit sexuality and probably the usage of actual footage from the Tiananmen incident. The story is about a disillusioned female teen, Yu Hong, who is accepted into Beiqing University. Brought up by only one parent, she relies a lot on her boyfriend and she becomes rather emotionally unstable as she leaves her hometown to Beijing for studies. She is not really social around people and her loneliness brings her to seek a physical relationship with a guy her friend had introduced. Turmoil starts to surface within the relationship as time progresses and their mutual trust begins to fall apart. The Tiananmen incident followed closely after and cemented the feeling of loss and isolation that Yu Hong is going through.

Tons of stuff followed suit and the director makes the story immensely engaging as well as capturing the mood and atmosphere that he wants to achieve. It is a downright depressing but pensive and reflective movie with the narration of the protagonist's thoughts and feelings. The lead actress and actor does a superb job in portraying the characters in the film even with very little dialogue involved. The sombre atmosphere makes us feel sad about the love lost, the downward spiral of their lives, and their desires and aspirations unfulfilled. My only gripe is that the dramatisation can be toned down for more subtlety and realism.

***1/2