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Lou Ye

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Lou Ye
Lou Ye in 2014
Born1965 (age 58–59)
Shanghai
OccupationFilmmaker
Years active1990s–present
Chinese name
Traditional Chinese婁燁
Simplified Chinese娄烨
Transcriptions
Standard Mandarin
Hanyu PinyinLóu Yè
In this Chinese name, the family name is Lou.

Lou Ye (Wade–Giles: Lou Yeh), born 1965, is a Chinese screenwriter-director who is commonly grouped with the "Sixth Generation"[1][2][3] directors of Chinese cinema. In June 2018, Lou was invited to become a member of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences.[4]

Career

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Born in Shanghai, Lou was educated at the Beijing Film Academy. In 1993, he made his first film Weekend Lover, but it was not released until two years later, having its world premiere at the International Filmfestival Mannheim-Heidelberg where it received the Rainer Werner Fassbinder Award. Between completion and premiere of Weekend Lover he made and released Don't Be Young, a thriller about a girl who takes her nightmares as real, in 1994. Lou, however, did not gain international prominence until his third film, the neo-noir Suzhou River. That film dealt with questions of identity and proved quite controversial upon its release in China. Upon its release, international audiences praised Suzhou River, which several critics felt evoked Alfred Hitchcock's Vertigo, particularly in how both films focus on a man obsessed with a mysterious woman.[5][6]

Lou—along with actress Nai An—founded the independent production company Dream Factory in 1998,[7] which would go on to produce most of Lou's films.[8][9]

In 2003 Lou released Purple Butterfly starring Zhang Ziyi. The film is a tale of revenge and betrayal taking place during the Japanese occupation of Shanghai, with a complex narrative structure borrowing heavily from film noir traditions.

Lou's next film, Summer Palace (2006), a story of two lovers in the backdrop of the Tiananmen Square protests of 1989, again brought Lou into conflict with Chinese authorities, resulting in a five-year ban for both him and his producer. In order to circumvent the ban, his next film, Spring Fever, was shot surreptitiously in Nanjing and registered as a Hong Kong-French coproduction to avoid censors. The film was shown in competition at the 62nd Cannes Film Festival[10] where writer Mei Feng won the Best Screenplay award.

Censorship Issues

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Lou Ye's films have proven controversial in their content, and often deal with issues of sexuality, gender, and obsession. Government censors banned his first film Weekend Lover for two years, while his breakout film Suzhou River was banned (with Lou receiving a 2-year ban from filmmaking) but has since been authorized in China.[11]

Later, after Lou submitted Summer Palace to the 2006 Cannes Film Festival without approval from Chinese censors, he was banned from film-making again, this time for five years.[12] The film itself was also banned, though according to Lou this was because it was not up to the SARFT's standards for picture and sound quality.[13]

Lou also had to re-edit his film The Shadow Play for two years before he was granted a distribution license in mainland China.[14][15] The film's plot centers on the investigation of a corruption scandal, inspired by real events in Xiancun,[16] It also touches upon the issue of forced evictions of urban villages in Guangzhou during China's economic reform.[14][17]

Filmography

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Year English title Chinese title Notes Ref.
1994 Don't be young 危情少女
1995 Weekend Lover 周末情人 Werner Fassbinder Award for Best Direction at the 1996 Mannheim-Heidelberg Film Festival
2000 Suzhou River 苏州河 Tiger Award at the 1999 International Film Festival Rotterdam
2001 "In Shanghai" 在上海 Documentary short, 16m
2003 Purple Butterfly 紫蝴蝶
2006 Summer Palace 頤和園
2009 Spring Fever 春风沉醉的夜晚 Prix du scénario award at the 2009 Cannes Film Festival
2011 Love and Bruises 花
2012 Mystery 浮城谜事 Asian Film Award for Best Film
2014 Blind Massage 推拿 Golden Horse Award for Best Feature Film
2018 The Shadow Play 风中有朵雨做的云 [17]
2019 Saturday Fiction 兰心大剧院
2024 An Unfinished Film 一部未完成的电影 [18]

References

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  1. ^ Valens, Grégory (2003). "Purple Butterfly". FilmFestivals.com. Archived from the original on 2006-08-31. Retrieved 2007-04-30.
  2. ^ Hu, Brian (2005-02-03). "Above Ground and Over His Head". Asia Pacific Arts. Archived from the original on 2007-02-18. Retrieved 2007-04-30.
  3. ^ The Daily Telegraph Staff (2006-02-28). "In the Realm of Censors". The Daily Telegraph. Archived from the original on 2002-10-17. Retrieved 2007-04-30.
  4. ^ "ACADEMY INVITES 928 TO MEMBERSHIP". Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences. 2018-06-25. Archived from the original on 2020-08-01. Retrieved 2024-05-21.
  5. ^ Scott, A.O. (2000-03-25). "Film Festival Review; A Chill Scene for Shadowy Characters". The New York Times. Archived from the original on 2011-05-20. Retrieved 2007-02-23.
  6. ^ "Think Global, Act Local". The Village Voice. 2000-03-20. Archived from the original on 2007-09-23. Retrieved 2007-02-23.
  7. ^ Lu, Hongwei (2010-10-01). "Shanghai and Globalization through the Lens of Film Noir: Lou Ye's 2000 Film, Suzhou River". ASIANetwork Exchange a Journal for Asian Studies in the Liberal Arts. 18 (1). University of Redlands: 116. doi:10.16995/ane.202. ISSN 1943-9946. Archived from the original on 2024-06-09. Retrieved 2024-06-09.
  8. ^ "Announcing The Jury Members Of The 2017 Sundance Film Festival". Sundance Institute. 2017-01-11. Archived from the original on 2023-12-10. Retrieved 2024-06-09. She also founded Dream Factory, which is dedicated to discovering, cultivating, and helping promising young Chinese directors. Nai An has produced several films directed by Lou Ye including Purple Butterfly (2003), Summer Palace (2006), and Spring Fever (2009), which were all selected by in competition at the Cannes Film Festival.
  9. ^ Pedroletti, Brice (2012-11-20). "Mystery (Fucheng mishi) - review". The Guardian. ISSN 0261-3077. Archived from the original on 2023-10-19. Retrieved 2024-06-09. According to Nai An, who produces most of Lou Ye's films, "We had to do a lot of explaining and communicating. This time we were prepared, since we knew they would be very cautious with this film."
  10. ^ McCarthy, Todd (2009-04-16). "Cannes taps heavy hitters". Variety. Archived from the original on 2010-11-26. Retrieved 2009-04-22.
  11. ^ "《苏州河》资料—中国—电影—优酷网，视频高清在线观看—又名：《Suzhou River》". Archived from the original on 2022-01-28. Retrieved 2022-01-28.
  12. ^ Variety Staff (2006-09-04). "China gives 'Palace' pair 5-year bans". Variety. Archived from the original on 2007-11-09. Retrieved 2007-02-20.
  13. ^ Jones, Arthur (2007-02-08). "'Banned filmmaker' is a relative term". Variety. Archived from the original on 2008-01-30. Retrieved 2007-04-29.
  14. ^ a b "娄烨这部新片告诉你艺术片发行有多难 《风雨云》首周破5100万 临上映仍在修改" [Lou Ye's new film reveals the difficulties of releasing art films. "The Shadow Play" grossed over 51 million RMB in its first week, despite undergoing modifications right before its release.]. Mtime. 2019-04-08. Archived from the original on 2020-01-22. Retrieved 2024-06-09.
  15. ^ Li, Huihui (2023-08-23). "娄烨纪录片，道出中国电影制作的普遍现实" [Lou Ye's documentary reveals the common realities of Chinese film production.]. Phoenix New Media (in Chinese). Post Wave Film. Archived from the original on 2024-06-09. Retrieved 2024-06-09.
  16. ^ "娄烨 | 一件事如果没有被记录，就没有发生" [Luo Ye: If an event is not recorded, it did not happen.]. Harper's Bazaar China. 2019-06-26. Archived from the original on 2020-01-21. Retrieved 2024-06-09 – via Trends Media Group.
  17. ^ a b "娄烨电影《风中有朵雨做的云》过审 将如期上映" [Lou Ye's film "The Shadow Play" has passed censorship and will be released as scheduled.]. Lianhe Zaobao (in Simplified Chinese). 2019-04-01. Archived from the original on 2022-09-03. Retrieved 2024-06-09.
  18. ^ Rosser, Michael (2024-04-23). "Lou Ye's Cannes title 'An Unfinished Film' heads to Coproduction Office, lands first sales". Screen Daily. Archived from the original on 2024-05-12. Retrieved 2024-05-14.
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