Yihe yuan (Summer Palace)

Yihe yuan (Summer Palace)

59% Liked It
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Yihe yuan (Summer Palace)

Chi Le, Lei Hao, Lin Cui, Ling Hu, Long Duan

Country girl Yu Hong leaves her village to study in Beijing. At university, she falls madly in love with fellow student Zho Wei. Driven by passion that neither can control, their relationship becomes ...( read more  read more... )one of dangerous games. All around them, their fellow students begin to demonstrate, demanding democracy and freedom. As the protests collapse, Yu and Zhou lose each other amidst the social chaos and panicked crowds. Zhou Wei is sent to a military camp, and on his release moves to Berlin. Meantime, Yu finds a job and a lover, but can not forget Zhou. In Germany too, social unrest is mounting. A familiar story for Zhou, still haunted by Yu, he returns to China as the Berlin Wall crashes down. He finally finds her, in a small town. From evening to dawn, their future stretches before them, two changed souls in a changed world.

Id: 9006533

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Recent Reviews


  • May 6, 2009
    "Because it is only when we make love that you understand that I'm gentle."

    That's all the character development I need. This is an ambitious film about the stalled maturation of an idealistic but troubled young woman flanked by the Tiananmen Square protests, the collapse of th...( read more)e Berlin Wall, and the handover of Hong Kong to mainland China. The direction is a little chaotic but it reflects the nature of the film. The soundtrack is impeccably chosen and the film is ultimately very sad. I was glued to this 140 minute masterpiece.

    More: sitenoise at the movies: Summer Palace
  • August 6, 2008
    Not as ambitious as its story might suggest, this film about a group (maybe a generation) of college students who witnessed the Tiananmen massacre. It's filtered through a young woman and her relationship with another student along with their ups and downs. The film's second half...( read more) fast forwards several years after the incident as to show the aimless and disillusioned lives these people led. The biggest fault of this was that the characters are so poorly fleshed out that by the time the film ends there is nothing but vague understanding of theses people despite all the heartbreaks and trauma they are made to suffer. The sex scenes, no matter how passionate or controversial, don't supply anything interesting things to say about the characters. It's as if the director simply stuck to the tried and true formula of "controversial/taboo historical topic + explicit sex = government ban = international interest and distribution".
  • August 16, 2008
    Even thought I am rating this a 3 Star, its still a pretty good flix, more of a chick flix, about a young lady in china, and the movie is made from her diary. Some Nudity, so those girls under 18 hide your eyes, yea right, if you enjoy this one let me hear from you. bbcfloridabou...( read more)nd@yahoo.com
  • July 25, 2009
    well, I seriously don't see or noticed any artistic values in it behind the erotic scenes...to cope with sadness? depression? or loneliness of a woman? even so, can't see the point in it...
  • January 3, 2009
    not good. beautifully shot, but storyline is insane and irrationally pornographic.
  • October 4, 2008
    I cannot say I agree with the bad reviews for these and even from the critics themselves. Personally, even the sex scenes in this film has a rather stunning quality, it hardly gives it any impression of being controversial, it for the most part reflects the characters and their l...( read more)ives, the mess of it all and the liberal attitude is in line with the revolutionary tunes too. Another thing of note is the mise-en-sene, the fades, the way the shot is composed for dialogues and the violation of the 180 degree rule gives off a lot fire and really makes this film as provocative as it is in many ways.
  • August 4, 2007
    anybody know where i can watch this movie?
  • May 9, 2007
    Quite a sad story actually...

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