SUMMER PALACE AT CANNES

Lou Ye's SUMMER PALACE has split in two, and now exists in two different realities - let's call them "Cannes Reality" and "China Reality". Which reality you live in depends on which language you speak and where you get your news.

CANNES REALITY
According to Variety and ScreenDaily, the print of SUMMER PALACE is in Cannes and the premiere will go ahead no matter what the Chinese certification board says. In this reality the certification board says that it rejected the print because of a technical flaw in the soundtrack and will reconsider it when a new print is submitted. Producer Sylvain Bursztejn says that he's not sure if the reason for the rejection is technical or whether that's just a sop to cover other reasons. With Lou Ye in Cannes it looks like the premiere will happen with him present.

CHINA REALITY
Danwei is reporting that the Chinese press is carrying a very different story. Producer Li Fang says that he had no idea SUMMER PALACE had been submitted to Cannes and that the international producers did it without his knowledge. Producer Nai'an says that the film was rejected by the State Administration of Radio, Film and Television because they didn't like his experimentation with blurred and out-of-focus shots and "fuzzy lenses". She says, "Lou Ye needs to consider calmly what it is he is pursuing."

In order to preserve the film's Chinese marketability, the film has been withdrawn from Cannes and Lou Ye is already heading home. According to Ms. Nai'an:

"Lou Ye tried out some new artistic methods in this film, but the censor committee judged it as not being up to technical standards. This struck a blow to the director, and he cannot accept this result at present."

One movie, two realities. With the premiere set for tomorrow, we'll see which one is true.