Under the Hawthorn Tree

Spoilers. One of the less explored genres of relationship cinema is where the couple is a 'good' couple and a good match for each other. They get along well. They are thoughtful and considerate of each other. They treat each other right. They don't betray each other or argue or lie or yell or cheat. They make mistakes, but they try their best and act sincere about it. Most of the conflict then is external. I wish more films would explore this type of relationship.

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Yimou's sensitive -- it's always sensitive, of course -- drama depicts a romance between a poor girl (from a "capitalist" family) and a rich boy (from a communist family) during Mao's cultural revolution. Ok, the story is lovely, sometimes arresting -- despite its conventional form --, sometimes involuntarily funny -- the ET's bike reference is brilliant --, but it seems formatted to make the audiences cry and cry and cry again and again.

Understated and small scale romancer from Zhang who has tended to work more on big budget blockbusters in recent years. I love his small films the best though and this one, while not as good as Riding Alone for Thousands of Miles, is not bad at all.

In this picture Yimou Zhang dispenses with his typically vibrant use of color for a more muted palette that fits the story this film tells nicely.It's the little details like the first time they hold hands, the stolen glances and the moments they find to be together that really heightened my enjoyment of this film.It was really nice to see this romance grow and blossom naturally.The ending does fall into that trap of a sappy ending that most of these kind of films have.