Spring in a Small Town

A straightforward but elegant melodrama, which makes excellent use of voice-over narration, and plays a bit like Brief Encounter via Naruse.

This was a real melancholy film filled with pain and suffering due to past and present circumstances. The acting from all is quite good and the actors play their roles well. All three of the main characters pissed me off at one time or another due to them not making any real moves or decisions which just cause everyone more pain and suffering. The film ends on a hopeful note which I feel a little conflicted about.

Not going to win any prizes for originality, but I always like a love triangle story without a villain, a real human story, like In the Mood for Love. The acting performances are excellent, but the limitations of audio options in Chinese films at the time are very distracting (as the kind of ambient noises almost all movies have--footsteps, etc. are not present) and the video quality has also unfortunately degraded significantly. The pace is pretty slow, too. Solid but overrated.

An adored Chinese film which did little for me beyond being a somewhat mellow romance twist. Absolutely well done on most accounts. The story was just a little ordinary for me, and I didn't feel any deeper connection with those involved.

almost seems like a precursor to a lot of chinese slow cinema

Generally considered to be the best film from pre-revolutionary China, it's a film overflowing with subtext and erotic tension, with simple yet effective camerawork and some well-developed and mature relationships between the characters, however it's also way too slow, bland and dry to ever be truly interesting or captivating. While I completely understand the appeal this film holds for critics and cineastes, it's not my cup of tea... or of um, wine I guess?

88.00

Star Rating: ★★★1/2

bir cesit selvi boylum al yazmalim hikayesi.

Since I know you've been eagerly awaiting for my opinion on this film, I will spare you the suspense: this is not the greatest Chinese movie of all time. However, it is a strong, realistic, and mature drama that leaves you feeling depressed for each character. The cinematrography is also fairly strong. Unfortunately, it moves quite slowly and the visuals and audio have degraded to the point where some scenes are almost completely silent.

#440

411

Dry and glacially paced, this often feels like it would have worked better as a short. Still, there's no denying that there's a certain simple beauty to many of the shots and Fei captures his characters' melancholy well.

480

# 620