None the less, experience suggests that it does a director’s career no harm to fall foul of the censors in China. Zhang Yimou (張藝謀), Zhang Yuan (張元), Wang Xiaoshuai (王小水) and Jiang Wen (姜文) have all grown in status since their films were banned. Does Lou expect a similar boost?
“I don’t need this kind of help,” he grimaces. “There is too much unpleasantness involved.”
But there is a coincidence of forces pushing artists such as Lou into new territory. Building on their personal exper iences of the Tiananmen protests, they now work in an environment of dramatic social change and commercial pressures. The increasingly global nature of the film industry — in which funding, filming and editing are often done in different countries — has weakened the authorities’ power and created new incentives to tackle controversial topics. Summer Palace may be banned in China, but 20 prints have already been sold elsewhere in the world. While China’s audiences will have to wait to see the film on the big screen, it’s highly likely that it will be out on pirate DVD long before.
In the meantime, what will Lou do?
“I will oppose the ban,” he says, without hesitation. “My work is to make movies. And I will do so until someone stands in front of my camera and tells me I must stop. It is my fundamental right.”
Defying the order, he plans to begin work on a new project with a Hong Kong writer. But isn’t he risking worse punishment? “It’s possible. But I believe China’s economy and political system are far ahead of the management of the film industry. It is stuck 10 years behind, but it must catch up eventually.”
After the interview, the photographer asks for a different location and we all move to his bedroom-office. The walls are festooned with Polaroids of cast and crew members, storyboard sketches, a shooting schedule and, just above his bed, a Polish Solidarity banner. It is a reminder of the movement that inspired Chinese students in the 1980s — and a rebuke to those who accuse him of only provoking controversy for self-promotion.
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