Definitely not for the Multiplex crowd this is a slow-burner with Chekhovian undertones, gorgeous photography and lots of understated acting. It's a simple enough premise: we're in the immediate post-war period in a quiet Chinese backwater where a man who looks several years older than the mid-thirties to which he admits, possibly because of a medical condition, lives in sexless tranquility with his wife and sister. This can't go on of course otherwise we're talking Walden in Mandarin so enter the man's old friend down from Shanghai for an unspecified period, add in the fact that the friend and the wife were once an item, stir gently and allow to simmer. That's just about it but as I keep on saying it's all in the wrist.

Springtime in a small town is not a film I plan to see again. I found the cinematography and the set to be beautiful and was really expecting to see another In the Mood for Love. Actually, with its quiet restraint, Springtime belongs to another era and should have been made half a century ago. In fact, it was, and although I haven't seen the original, I hear it is much better than the remake. That must be true because this is a story for 1948 audiences.The problem with Springtime is that despite the beauty, nothing happens. The audience is not drawn into the quiet frustration of the central characters. Thats partly because the doctor upsets the balance of the whole structure. Eventually the whole exercise gets tedious and is only momentarily enlivened by the childish drinking games at one family dinner.I don't think its fair to compare this to In the Mood for Love or Remains of the Day. There is no such depth to the story.

The cinematography is the definite star of this film. Although the surrounding countryside is a bit stark (after all, WWII was to have just ended), the camera work was extremely beautiful. Slowly sweeping and creeping cameras really gave the movie an unusual feel and greatly enhanced the film.The story itself is interesting, though the plot seems a little too slowly paced. I think about ten minutes could have been shaved off here and there and by tightening the film, it might have had a slightly better impact. However, the story itself is interesting and is an odd but excellent love story.

I'll have to add dissenting comment here. Various reviews I have read compared this movie to the likes of those by Wong Kar Wai or Hou Hsiao-hsien. i.e. one of the admirable flotilla of mandarin goodies that have come our way in recent years. Unfortunately this isn't quite accurate. The film plays out rather like a film school graduate's attempt to emulate these masters. All the pieces are there - the beautiful backdrop, the vaguely minimalist dialogue, the slow swaying camerawork, and male leads, in particular, who spend a fair whack of time sitting around being contemplative. Sounds good but unfortunately nothing is up to par. The dialogue is leaden. The acting is generally unable to lift the characters above type; the married couple and the little sister are particularly poor and uninvolving. Unfortunately when mediocre character acting is combined with a classical "Chekovian" (i.e. very predictable) plot, the results are at best tedious and at worst painful. I couldn't help but see the "Blue Danube" river scene, for example, as verging on genre parody (although the smoggy looking "springtime" sky over the river did provide a bit of black humour...) I actually went to this movie on the basis that Mark Li Ping was photographing it. While the setting is elegant, and the swaying camera attempts to replicate the mood of "Flowers of Shanghai", the film is not in the same league, visually. In fact I must confess that after an hour of wondering whether it was the script or the acting that was ruining the film, I suddenly remembered that I was meant to meet my flatmate for dinner and took the chance to leave (and I can't recall the last film I walked out of). I'm guessing from the reviews that the ending may have left a positive aftertaste but by that point I couldn't care. If you'd like to see something along similar lines done with real talent then I'd recommend anything by the above two directors, for example "In the Mood for Love" or "Flowers of Shanghai", both of which were filmed by the talented Mr Ping (the former with Chris Doyle), and both of which are films masterful enough to inspire years of failed emulations like this. It's not often Mr Hoberman leads me astray, and perhaps you'd rather listen to him, but don't say you weren't warned. Craig.