Director Lou Ye's third film, "Summer Palace," breaks not one but two serious taboos in Chinese cinema. Not only does he include passionate sex scenes and nudity — a first in mainland Chinese cinema — he also dares to set his story of star-crossed lovers amid the democracy protests of 1989, which culminated in the infamous Tiananmen Square massacre.
It comes as no surprise to learn that Lou has been banned from making films by the government for five years. Officially, his crime is that he premiered the film at Cannes in 2006 without government permission; realistically, the film's content clearly had something to do with it. The irony is, of course, that by banning Lou, the Chinese government does more damage to its reputation than anything in this film.
In Lou's case, it's truly a shame, since with just two films he has established himself as one of Asia's leading directors. His debut, "Suzhou River," was a gritty, Shanghai variation on Hitchcock's "Vertigo." His next film, "Purple Butterfly," was an elliptical, film noir take on love and betrayal in 1930s Shanghai during the Japanese occupation. Lou's visual sense matured in this film, creating an exquisitely melancholy mood to match his material.