Weekend Lover is the 1995

1995 in film

-Top grossing films:-Events:* March 22 - The Dogme 95 movement is officially announced in Paris by Danish directors Lars von Trier and Thomas Vinterberg.* March 28 - Actress Julia Roberts and singer Lyle Lovett announce their plans for separation....

 directorial debut by Chinese director

Cinema of China

The Chinese-language cinema has three distinct historical threads: Cinema of Hong Kong, Cinema of China, and Cinema of Taiwan. Since 1949 the cinema of mainland China has operated under restrictions imposed by the Communist Party of China's State Administration of Radio, Film, and Television and...

 Lou Ye

Lou Ye

Lou Ye , born 1965, is a Chinese writer-director who is commonly grouped with the "Sixth Generation" directors of Chinese cinema.-Films: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...

. The film stars actors Jia Hongsheng

Jia Hongsheng

-Early life:Jia was born in Siping, Jilin, to Jia Fengsen and Chai Xiuling, both retired theater actors from northeast China. He had a younger sister, Wang Tong.-Life and career:...

 and Ma Xiaoqing. Fellow director Wang Xiaoshuai

Wang Xiaoshuai

Wang Xiaoshuai is a Chinese film director, screenwriter and occasional actor. He is commonly grouped under the loose association of filmmakers known as the Sixth Generation of the Cinema of China....

 also plays a minor role.

The film follows a young man, A Xi who is recently released from prison. Once released, he seeks out his old girlfriend Li Xin who has since begun a relationship with La La a young musician. As the two men vie for her attention, tension and violence escalate.

Cast

• Jia Hongsheng
  Jia Hongsheng
  -Early life:Jia was born in Siping, Jilin, to Jia Fengsen and Chai Xiuling, both retired theater actors from northeast China. He had a younger sister, Wang Tong.-Life and career:...
  
   — A Xi, a young man recently released from prison where he had served a term for murder of a fellow teenager.
• Ma Xiaoqing — Li Xin, A Xi's ex-girlfriend.
• Wang Zhiwen
  Wang Zhiwen
  Wang Zhiwen is a Chinese actor born in Shanghai, China. He was selected by for his acting abilities at an early age and began to pursue a career in acting that has flourished in recent years, culminating in his role in Chen Kaige's Together...
  
   — La La, Li Xin's new boyfriend.
• Nai An — Chen Chen, the film's narrator.
• Wang Xiaoshuai
  Wang Xiaoshuai
  Wang Xiaoshuai is a Chinese film director, screenwriter and occasional actor. He is commonly grouped under the loose association of filmmakers known as the Sixth Generation of the Cinema of China....
  
   — Zhang Chi, a musician in La La's band.

Production

Weekend Lover served as Lou Ye's first feature-film since graduating from the Beijing Film Academy

Beijing Film Academy

Beijing Film Academy is a coeducational state-run higher education institution in Beijing, China. The film school is the largest institution specialised in the tertiary education for film and television production in Asia...

 in 1989 and is notable for having the youngest production team in Chinese cinematic history upon its release.. Shot and produced in 1993 and 1994, once complete, the film was banned for two years by the Chinese film censors

State Administration of Radio, Film, and Television

The State Administration of Radio, Film, and Television is an executive branch under the State Council of the People's Republic of China...

; after the ban ended, Weekend Lover was released internationally at the tail end of 1995.

Reception

Weekend Lovers noir-style and tales of violent disaffected youth led to its comparison with similar films of the period, notably Zhang Yuan's Beijing Bastards

Beijing Bastards

Beijing Bastards is a 1993 drama film by sixth generation director Zhang Yuan, and is one of the first independently produced Chinese films....

. Like that film, Weekend Lover is also considered a defining film for the "Sixth Generation" of Chinese cinema, particularly in its tone and subject matter that focuses on modern urban life instead of traditional Chinese history. Less positive reviews often praised the film as technically assured, but convoluted in its plotting leading at least one reviewer to refer to it as a "minor festival curio."

Premieres and awards

The film managed to premiere at a handful of foreign film festival

Film festival

A film festival is an organised, extended presentation of films in one or more movie theaters or screening venues, usually in a single locality. More and more often film festivals show part of their films to the public by adding outdoor movie screenings...

s, notably the Turin Young Cinema Festival in 1995. It eventually went on to win the Werner Fassbinder Award for Best Direction at the 1996 Mannheim-Heidelberg International Film Festival

International Filmfestival Mannheim-Heidelberg

Mannheim-Heidelberg International Filmfestival is an annual film festival held jointly by the cities of Mannheim and Heidelberg in Baden-Württemberg. The festival was established in 1952. In Mannheim there are six cinema centres and 19 single cinemas.The festival presents arthouse films of...

.

External links

• Weekend Lover at the Chinese Movie Database