Lou Ye

Lou Ye ( Chinese  婁 燁  /  娄 烨 , Pinyin Lóu Yè ; * 1965 in Shanghai , People's Republic of China ) is a Chinese film director. He is numbered among the sixth generation of Chinese film directors who choose a more direct language for their portrayal. He was nominated twice for the Palme d'Or  and was banned from work by the Chinese government for five years in 2006 due to the unauthorized showing of his film Summer Palace - 頤和園 /  颐和园 at the Cannes Film Festival.

In 2018 he was appointed to the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences , which awards the Oscars every year.

Movies

Lou Ye received his training at the Beijing Film Academy and started his directing career with the film "Weekend Lover" - 周末 情人 (1993), which, however, only had its premiere in 1996 at the Mannheim-Heidelberg International Film Festival. There he received the special prize in Memoriam Rainer Werner Fassbinder. His first international success came with “Suzhou River” - 苏州 河 (1997), a neo- film noir that brought him a number of prizes: the Tiger Award at the Rotterdam International Film Festival (1999), the FIPRESCI Award at the Viennale (2000), the Grand Prix at the Paris Film Festival (2000), a main prize at the Ginza Film Festival in Tokyo and the Critic's Award at Fantasporto (2002). Despite this international recognition, the public broadcasting of the film was banned because the central issue, the question of identity, was perceived as too controversial. Many international critics drew parallels with Hitchcock's "Vertigo," as both films revolve around a man's obsession with a woman.

His next film was "Purple Butterfly" - 紫 蝴蝶 (2003) with the leading actress Zhang Ziyi , who played during the Japanese occupation of Shanghai. Lou Ye re-used elements of film noir, so the film has a complex narrative structure and themes that revolve around betrayal and revenge. Again, the film has been banned due to sensitive issues and has so far not been publicly available in the PRC.

His film “Summer Palace” - 頤和園  /  颐和园 (2006) is about a couple in the context of the student protests on Tian'anmen Square from 1989 to 2000. Again, both context and erotic content brought the censorship to the table immediately banned the film. But the film also tells of the “Lost Generation”, the generation of transitioning Chinese who was born in the 1960s, too young for Deng Xiaoping's reforms, and too old for the new beginnings in the mid-1990s.

In 2008 Lou Ye shot the film "Bitch" - 母狗. A year later he received an invitation for Chun Feng Chen Zui De Ye Wan (Spring Fever) to compete at the 62nd Cannes International Film Festival .

Lou Yes work

In the course of his career, Lou Ye came into contact with the Chinese censorship agency again and again, as his films often touch on sensitive topics such as sexuality, gender, obsession and politically explosive topics. "Weekend Lover" was initially held back for two years, "Suzhou River" is still under lock and key, as is "Summer Palace". "Suzhou River" resulted in a two-year ban, and "Summer Palace" a five-year ban. Although Lou Ye and his staff did not have official permission from the censors, they submitted the film for the Cannes Film Festival 2006 as the only Asian film.

Filmography

Year	English title	Chinese title	Pinyin	Remarks
1995	Weekend lover	周末 情人	Zhōumò qíngrén	Werner Fassbinder Award for Best Direction at the 1996 Mannheim-Heidelberg Film Festival
2000	Suzhou River	苏州 河	Sūzhōu hé	Tiger Award at the 1999 Rotterdam International Film Festival
2003	Purple butterfly	紫 蝴蝶	Zǐ húdié	Official selection: Cannes Film Festival 2003
2006	Summer Palace	頤和園  /  颐和园	Yíhéyuán	Official selection: Cannes Film Festival 2006
2008	Bitch	母狗	Mǔgǒu
2009	Spring fever	春风 沉醉 的 夜晚	Chūnfēng chénzuì de yèwǎn	Best Screenplay in Competition at the Cannes Film Festival 2009
2011	Love & Bruises	花	Huā
2012	Mystery	浮 城 谜 事	Fúchéng míshì	Un Certain Regard: Cannes Film Festival 2012 Best Film Award of the Asian Film Awards 2012
2014	Blind massage	推拿	Tuīná	Silver Bear for outstanding artistic performance in the competition at the Berlinale 2014
2018	The Shadow Play	风 中 有 朵 雨 做 的 云	Fēngzhōng yǒu duǒ yǔ zuò de yún
2019	Saturday fiction	兰 心 大 剧院	Lánxīn dà jùyuàn	Official Selection: 76th Venice International Film Festival

See also

• Chinese film

Web links

• Lou Ye in the Internet Movie Database (English)
• Lou Ye in the All Movie Guide (English)
• Lou Ye in the Chinese Movie Database
• Telepolis interview

Individual evidence

1. ↑ Valens, Grégory: Purple Butterly . FilmFestivals.com. 2003. Archived from the original on August 31, 2006. Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. Retrieved April 30, 2007. 
2. ^ Hu, Brian: Above Ground and Over His Head . Asia Pacific Arts. February 3, 2005. Archived from the original on February 18, 2007. Info: The archive link has been inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. Retrieved April 30, 2007. 
3. ^ The Daily Telegraph staff: Above Ground and Over His Head . The Daily Telegraph . February 28, 2006. Retrieved April 30, 2007.
4. ^ Rüdiger Suchsland, Telepolis: We are a "Lost Generation" . Retrieved January 11, 2011.
5. ↑ 娄 烨 违规 参赛 戛纳 电影 节 五年 内 不准 拍片 (Chinese)
6. ↑ Academy invites 928 to Membersphip . In: oscars.org (accessed June 26, 2018).
7. ^ AO Scott: Film Festival Review; A Chill Scene for Shadowy Characters . New York Times. March 25, 2000. Accessed on February 23, 2007.  ( Page no longer available , search in web archives )  Info: The link was automatically marked as defective. Please check the link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.  
8. ^ Think Global, Act Local . The Village Voice . March 20, 2000. Retrieved February 23, 2007.

Note: This article places the family name before the person's first name. This is the usual order in Chinese. Lou is the family name here, Ye is the first name.