[Summer Palace] is the new film by Lou Ye, one of the most talented and ambitious of the emerging crop of Chinese directors. This film, shown in competition at Cannes, portrays the lives of men and women who suffered the political upheavals of China between 1987 and 2001. Like his previous film [Purple Butterfly], Lou overdoes himself trying to capture the character`s agitated mental and physical states of being. His efforts to share in the love, frustration, and degeneration of his characters are also visible in his energetic camera work. This film, which drives the audience members to the point of physical and psychological exhaustion, also leaves one wondering: what exactly did I gain after having watched everything come to naught? The characters` intense youthful energy never gets properly channeled, and is ultimay wasted. One could say that is true for most youth. However, one has to also acknowledge that it is difficult to have a so-called productive life in a social environment characterized by rapid change. Lou, who paints his characters` emotions in vibrant and racy colors, has a style that cannot be easily summarized as being beautiful, sad, or nihilistic. This film gives the sense of taking the audience members by their hands and leading them somewhere. That `somewhere` resembles a beach where one is not exactly sure what to do. Not that there is one answer ? just the feeling of having watched a deeply moving portrait of a generation of youth that has lived through tempestuous times is enough. (Kim Young-jin)