Spring Fever by Lou Ye

Inspired by the French New Wave, Spring Fever reminds of that so godardian freedom of the camera and the urban sound, plus a frenetic use of images and photography, very close to Christopher Doyle’s work. But in its content too, the film opens itself to an unusual frank and unrestrained treatment of homosexuality, which will certainly arouse controversy; dealing with a Lou Ye adopts a grainy handheld look in an attempt to give more realism and closeness to the characters, as if someone were shooting them with his personal camera.

The director immerses us in a dangerous quintet in which no one seems to know what he or she really wants. Passion and feelings emerge in this steamy story about people with rather confusing sexual inclinations, driven by their impulses.

Although Cannes Jury awards have already been given to similar stories in past editions - such as Wong Kar Wai’s Happy Together or Chen Kaige’s Farewell my Concubine, Spring Fever is still far from those great works. It shows too many unnecessary sex scenes and is overlong which finally leads the viewer to lose interest. These are harsh lives, but could have been dealt from a more interesting perspective.

Andrea Franco