Dedicated to the pioneers of Chinese cinema, this is the first film in a decade from veteran Fifth Generation director Tian Zhuangzhuang ("Horse Thief", "The Blue Thief").
A lovingly crafted remake of a 40s Chinese classic, which was made just before the Communist revolution, it explores a love triangle in a provincial town the year after war has ended with Japan.
The eight-year marriage of Dai Liyan (Wu Jun) and Yuwen (Hu Jing Fan) has left them both unfulfilled: he has been laid low by a mysterious illness, and the couple now sleep in separate rooms in the semi-ruined family home.
An unexpected visitor arrives from Shanghai, a smartly-dressed doctor called Zhang Zhichen (Bai Qing). He's an old schoolfriend of Dai Liyan's and a childhood sweetheart of Yuwen's.
Delighted to be reacquainted with Zhang, the husband believes that his cultivated guest would be a suitable match for his wife's lively schoolgirl sister, Dai Xiu (Lu Sisi). In turn, Yuwen believes that her former flame could be the solution to her own unhappiness.
Elegantly shot in long takes and drifting tracking shots by cinematographer Mark Lee, who photographed "In the Mood for Love", this is a tightly controlled tale of thwarted desires.
The characters rarely leave the grounds of the house - there's an exuberant boating trip, and some walks along the city walls - and this physical claustrophobia heightens the mood of emotional confinement and enervation. Even the bedroom which is the scene of the climactic confrontation between Zhang and a drunken Yuwen resembles an ornately designed cage.
Perhaps too deliberate in its pacing, "Springtime in a Small Town" is still well served by the performances of its lead trio. All are relative newcomers to film acting, yet they subtly convey the suppressed longings beneath their characters' polite façades.
In Mandarin with English subtitles.
Springtime in a Small Town (Xiao Cheng Zhi Chun) (2003)
