is a little disappointed, probably the only reason for me to associate these two films, which are very different in genre, subject matter or nationality. There is also a possibility that no matter which of the two films is proposed individually, I do not think it is enough to support an article. But when I connected the two, I found that there were many similar thoughts that gradually spread in my mind.
Let me explain first. One of the two films is Lou Ye's "Summer Palace" in 2005. The film was selected for the Cannes Film Festival that year. Unfortunately, when the crew was about to leave, they were informed that the film had not passed the review of the State Administration of Radio, Film and Television. In other words, the film has become a banned film in mainland China. Not only that, since then the film's overseas distribution can only be carried out underground. Because this is a Chinese film, there is no overseas funding background. So, similar to the fate of Jia Zhangke and Wang Xiaoshuai, Lou Ye became an underground director, and "Summer Palace" was also circulated in a "secret" way. In fact, it is the same all over the world. The more the film is banned, the greater the popularity and dissemination of the film. For example, the world-famous "120 Days of Sodom", if it is released, may also be a poor box office, because no one wants to witness those scenes in front of the wide screen. Therefore, few fans of Jia Zhangke and Wang Xiaoshuai, even at least the followers of the "sixth generation", have not seen the representative works of the directors such as "Xiao Wu", "Platform", "Ren Xiaoyao", "Nanhai Girl" and so on. However, from my personal point of view, Jia Zhangke and Wang Xiaoshuai's films before the lifting of the ban are much better than today's.
A little off topic, back to "Summer Palace". The film somewhat unexpectedly stars Hao Lei and Guo Xiaodong. It's hard to imagine how the two well-known TV actors came into Lou Ye's attention, and how they decided to break through their screen image. The film tells the life changes of several men and women in the ten years from the late 1980s to the early 2000s. This story doesn't sound very new, and coupled with a lot of unnecessary love scenes, the bold contributions of the hero and heroine are even more startling and puzzling. "Summer Palace" didn't go to Cannes, it's not a loss at all, and it won't have much praise anyway. Moreover, Lou Ye also involved "June 4th", and took it as one of the selling points of the film. Political movements have always been a minefield for mainland movies, and it is forbidden to touch them, and it is impossible to touch them at all. After 2000 years, which have been open for many, still nothing has changed. Therefore, a film like "Qinghong" that obviously sells dog meat can be hyped with "almost banned". Not to mention the Summer Palace. To be honest, maybe what I saw was the multiple-edited (and still banned) version, where the political movement in the film died out because of the director's self-righteousness, or the whole crew making a fuss. Because it neither explained the causes and consequences of the events of the year, nor did it express the reflections and struggles of intellectuals brought about by the movement. On the contrary, Lou Ye presents an exciting scene of the hero and heroine singing excitedly, waving slogans excitedly, and marching against the wind. Not like the angry youth of the "June 4th", but like the Red Guards of the "Cultural Revolution". After the sudden change of the situation, the result was only the howling and convulsions of the heroine's psychotic episode. Is this "cultural movement" really related to them? Honestly didn't see it.
Apart from that, the rest of the film is not worth mentioning. The personnel changes in the 1990s were not a new topic of film and television creation for a long time. Going abroad, returning to China, suicide, confusion, extramarital affairs, marriage, divorce...Which one is not a typical content of this type of theme? The film honestly incorporates all the elements, and as for the ending, it is even more expected.
The only thing that moved me in the film was the song interspersed in that parallel montage of the passing of time - "Don't break my heart" by Black Panther. It is a masterpiece of Black Panther. Friends who don't know it can come and listen to it. Although it has a sense of age, good songs will never be out of date. This song was chosen appropriately. In the early 1990s, it was the era when Black Panther was prosperous. At the same time, the lyrics also blended in with the movie. Listening to this song after many years, I really feel a lot. Thinking of the high-spirited brother Dou Wei, after more than ten years of marriage, divorce and re-marriage, and it is unknown whether he has divorced again, he returned to the headlines of the entertainment page with a car burning.
Speaking of rock music, it is necessary to mention the second film. Filmed in 2007, the British independent film "Control" ("Control"). The film tells the bewildered, tangled, short and brilliant life of a generation of rock star Ian Curtis. Especially the black-and-white treatment of the film outlines the black-and-white attitude advocated by rock music, as well as the gray world that more people can't accept. In the 1960s and 1970s, rock music was the common spiritual sustenance of all young people who were advertised as alternative and advanced at that time. Because of this, many rock stars and bands were born in that era. The Beatles, Rolling Stone, Sex Pistols, Bob Dylan and even Elvis Presley, to name a few, have become permanent symbols of the years. Speaking of which, most of these rock stars have tragic endings, either by death or by alcoholism and drug addiction, or even suicide. Too few can end well. Probably because they were born to shine brightly in their extraordinary lives. Just as the brightest sparks can only burn for a moment, they come, squander their lives, and then disappear beyond the horizon like comets across the night sky. Ian was no exception, he committed suicide in May 1980 at the age of 23. In Ian's short life, he was also entangled with drugs and women, which became the main reason for his suicide. Unfortunately, the film only focuses on Ian's emotional entanglement with a woman, while mentioning his epilepsy and history of drug use. I don't know if this epilepsy, mania or even depression is a special manifestation of some life that should not have been born. Just like Van Gogh suffered from schizophrenia. When these extremely sensitive, fragile, and gifted minds face life hurdles that most ordinary people can successfully overcome, such as growth, responsibility, emotional fluctuations, and social changes, they often choose to escape, or even go the opposite way. The heroine of "Summer Palace" also suffers from a special disease. Hao Lei is always inexplicably nervous, worrying about gains and losses, and even irritable and crying in the film. However, Lou Ye's performance was somewhat inexplicable. Those howls and tears made people doubt the heroine's mental state. But Ian, the frontman of a rock band, clearly wasn't concocted. I guess, this also directly led to the tragic end of his later addiction to drugs.
The little-known Sam Riley doesn't look like Ian, but he vividly reproduces this lonely, painful and pure impulsive rock prodigy. Especially as an epilepsy patient, Ian has to wave his arms uncontrollably every time he sings to the climax. That kind of helplessness and confusion that try to break through the constraints of reality but can only bow down after all, Sam Riley is very perfect manifested. It's just that Ian's emotions are so disturbed that the audience can't sympathize with him. To his wife and lover, he seemed at best a heartbreaker who abandoned his family and refused to take responsibility. In fact, most of these rock players have such shortcomings, as I have said before. A love story as poignant as Sid and Nancy's is probably unprecedented.
Decades have passed, and neither the stories in Control nor the Summer Palace are likely to happen again on this planet. But humans are still alive in this world. Just like "Don't break my heart" sings "Don't break my heart, be gentle again, I don't want to see the silence you keep. Wait alone, bear silently, joy always appears in my dreams". Black Panther has long since disbanded, but the song is still there. Years later, when I replayed it, the feeling is still there. The same sadness, the same loss, the same struggle, the same laughter, people's stories still go on. Although rock music has long since lost its glory, whether in China or the United Kingdom, the spirit is still alive, at least in the memory of those years. At the end of Control, Ian is buried in his native Manchester. In this famous industrial city, black smoke billows from the towering chimneys under the sky that is often covered with dark clouds, as if to announce that the British are dead, and the spirit will not die.
View more about Control reviews
