Springtime In a Small Town
A lovingly crafted remake of a 40's Chinese classic, SPRINGTIME IN A SMALL TOWN 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 and distant.  An unexpected visitor arrives from Shanghai, a smartly-dressed doctor call Zhang Zhichen (Bai Qing).  He's an old schoolfriend of Dai Liyan's and unbeknownst to her husband, Yuwen's childhood sweetheart.  Delighted to be re-acquainted with Zhang, the husband believes that his cultivated guest would be a suitable match for his wife's lively school girl 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 Ping Bing (In The Mood For Love, Millennium Mambo), this is a tightly controlled tale of thwarted desires.