Chinese Cinema: Springtime in a Small Town, Tian Zhuangzhuang (2002) 116 mins

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Beautifully acted, exquisitely considered, spellbindingly tender, utterly involving' — The Guardian Winner of the San Marco Award, Venice Film Festival 2002, this romantic drama, set in a small Chinese town in the aftermath of World War II follows the passionless marriage of sickly Liyan and his beautiful wife Yuwen. Their dreary lives are interrupted when Liyan's old school friend and Yuwen's childhood sweetheart, Zhichen from Shanghai comes to visit. A re-make of Fei Mu's 1948 film, Springtime in a Small Town marks Zhuangzhuang's return to filmmaking after almost a decade's absence since his controversial The Blue Kite, 1993.