Two months into shooting, Kaige Chen had to let his leading lady go and replaced her with Gong Li. This was immediately followed by a delay in filming due to bad weather. Both of these factors contributed to the budget doubling to US $4 million. Six months of post-production took place in Beijing and Japan. Opening explanatory cards were cut and some scenes were rearranged.By the time of the Cannes Film Festival, the budget had increased to US $7 million. Even then, the film's problems were not over - the Chinese authorities then banned the film due to its political undercurrent and explicit scenes.