Spring Fever

Spring Fever 春风沉醉的晚上; literally "A Night Deeply Drunk on the Spring Breeze" is a 2009 Chinese film directed by Lou Ye. The production of the film is in defiance of a five-year ban on filmmaking imposed by China's State Administration of Radio, Film, and Television(SARFT) for his previous film, Summer Palace. The film was reportedly surreptitiously shot in the city of Nanjing. It is described to be about a young threesome overcome with erotic longings.

In April 2009, it was announced that Spring Fever was to be shown in competition at the 2009 Cannes Film Festival. Little else was known about the film at the time, except that Lou was in the process of editing the film in Paris. Like Summer Palace, Spring Fever was to be screened without government approval.

By the time of the film's premiere at the Cannes Festival on May 13, 2009, it was known that Lou had circumvented the five-year ban imposed upon him after Summer Palace by having Spring Fever registered as a Hong Kong/French co-production, and by secretly filming in Nanjing.

China, 2007. Spring. As Nature gradually awakens and an intoxicating spring breeze full of life blows, as they drive together to the coast, love and sexual passion grow in the hearts of Jiang Cheng, his friend Luo Haitao and Xiaoxue, a beautiful young woman. All three fall prey to an exhilarating sickness of the senses, a dangerous malady that misleads the heart… A beautiful erotic "menage à trois".

An early review by industry watcher Variety, following Spring Fever's premiere in the 2009 Cannes Film Festival, was critical with the film's "overlong" running-length of 116 minutes, and its overly "Euro tastes (and Western sensibilities)," especially when compared with Lou's breakout film of Suzhou River.

The film won the award for Best Screenplay at the 2009 Cannes Film Festival.

Lou Ye

Lou Ye 娄烨, born 1965, is a Chinese writer-directorwho is commonly grouped with the "Sixth Generation" directors of Chinese cinema and is currently banned from filmmaking by the Chinese government for five years as a result of controversy surrounding his film, Summer Palace.

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 in 1995. Lou, however, did not gain international prominence until his second 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 praisedSuzhou River, which several critics felt evoked Alfred Hitchcock's Vertigo, particularly in how both films focus on a man obsessed with a mysterious woman. In 2003, Lou Ye made the film Purple Butterfly starring Zhang Ziyi. The film, which took place during the Japanese occupation of Shanghai, with its tale of revenge and betrayal, as well as its complex narrative structure again borrowed heavily from the film noir tradition. Lou's next film, Summer Palace (2006) which dealt with 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. Hi latest film, Spring Fever, was therefore shot surreptitiously in Nanjing and was registered as a Hong Kong-French coproduction to avoid attracting notice from censors. The film was shown in competition at the 62nd Cannes Film Festival where it won the prize for best screenplay. 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 is still banned (with Lou receiving a 2 year ban from filmmaking). Most recently, Summer Palace led to Lou's second ban from film-making, this time for five years. Indeed, though Lou submitted the film to the 2006 Cannes Film Festival as the only Asian film in competition for the Palme d'Or, he and his producers had not received approval from Chinese censors, thus instigating his official censure. The longer term of punishment is indication that it is Lou's second offense. Lou, however, has stated that the reason for the ban was for "technical reasons" in that the film was not up to the Beijing Film Bureau's standards for picture and sound quality. He and the movie's producer were forbidden by to make any new films for five years.