Springtime in a Small Town

Rating:
Summary: You Must Believe In "Spring"
Review: "Springtime in a Small Town" is director Tian Zhuangzhuang's first film in 10 years after being banned when his film "The Blue Kite" was released. "Kite" told a political story, here with "Springtime" Zhuangzhuang plays it safe by remaking the 1948 film "Spring in a Small Town". A post WW2 love story.

But, don't think the film is really all that simple. Lurking behind the scenes is a story that, in a subtle way, challenges in social customs of the times.

Zhang Zhichen (Bai Qing) and Yuwen (Hu Jing Fan) were childhood sweathearts, but, there was no matchmaker involved so the two could never get married. Then war broke out.

10 years have passed and now Yuwen is married to Dai Liyan (Wu Jun). Though things are not going well. Liyan is sick and the marriage is now a loveless one. That is to say if these two were ever in love to begin with.

Zhichen enters both of their lives again as he knows Liyan. Both Liyan doesn't know the past wife and Zhichen share.

The movie is beautifully told. The cinematography captures a tenderness to the story. And Zhuangzhuang displays his terrific eye as a director. The script manages to avoid several cliches that would have appeared if this were an American film. In which case it would have been a overly sentimental WW2 story. Think "Waterloo Bridge".

"Springtime in a Small Town" is really more than just a love story, although if as you watch it you see nothing more, that's fine, the story still works as an old-fashion love triangle.

Bottom-line: Not as emotionally involving as Zhuangzhuang's last film, it is still a lovely told story dealing with social customs and regrets of the past and regrets that are still to come.

Rating:
Summary: A Near Masterpiece
Review: Springtime in a Small Town is the first film by director Tian Zhuangzhuang in ten years, after he was banned for the heartbreaking The Blue Kite which explored the cultural revolution.

That probably explained his choice this time to stay away from politics and focus instead on a small but emotionally powerful drama. This is actually a color remake of Spring in a Small Town, a famed black and white film made in the chaotic post-WWII China that I am still trying to track down a copy of. The story is essentially a love triangle, about a big city doctor who stirred the hopes and desires of his hosts in (what else?) a small town.

Its stage play-like focus on just three characters and the lack of numerous sets made it a very intimate film, as we are forced to share the same space with the same people throughout. There is also the clever use of the claustrophobic and dilapidated environments to mirror the repressed and decaying state of the characters. It employed a slow but graceful gliding camera with a voyeuristic aim to watch the characters, forever trying to uncover the secret truths. Couple that with a deliberate pace and the film begs the audience to decipher the hidden meaning behind every gesture and recognize every symbolic detail.

The film is not perfect though, with some wooden dialogues and unpolished acting here and there, a little annoying but not enough to distract from this otherwise masterpiece.

This film was shot by master cinematographer Lee Pin-Bing, who composed a muted albeit still lush and warm look to match the spring in the title.

In some ways I feel Tian is working beneath his talents, because if he can turn this simple drama into a near masterpiece, just imagine what he could do with a more edgy and evocative material.

Anyways, if you liked In the Mood for Love, Flowers of Shanghai, or The Age of Innocence, you will likely want to add this to your collection as a companion piece.