Summer Palace (Yi He Yuan)

This movie was one serious badass emo movie. It was also a movie I went to watch without having an idea of the plot or what it was about, since my first choice movie had already sold out.

Summer Palace is billed as "the most controversial movie from China" and I can see why. Set in the backdrop of the Tiananmen massacre, it liberally used images and footages taken from that period. You can see why the Chinese government basically banned Lou Ye (the director) from making movies for a 5 year period. All copies of this movies is supposed to be destroyed as well.

Also, it is very liberal in nature, showing the going on in the Beijing University at that period of time. And guess what young adolescent students do in their free time? They go at it like rabbits in heat.

But this movie isn't just about controversy, it's about the life of a young women, trying to find her way in life, to find someone for her. It traces a 2 1/2 hour torturous, winding and emo route of how she didn't get together with a guy. It showcases her thoughts, her feelings as she wrestles with her love life. She flits from one guy to another, always having sex, and yet always thinking of that one guy she doesn't want to be with.

This movie was interesting, and you could probably go on to analyze the relationships between all the characters for hours, but at the end of the day, when you see that she got married and yet still thinks about the guy and yet doesn't want to be with him, you can't help but feel sorry for her.