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Springtime in a Small Town

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Springtime in a Small Town (2004)

89%
100%
72%
N/A
N/A
N/A
89 %
Reviews Counted: 35 Fresh: 31  Rotten:4 Average Rating: 7.4/10
 
Consensus: Visually sumptuous and well acted.
 

How does the Tomatometer work?

The Tomatometer measures the percentage of positive reviews from Approved Tomatometer Critics for a certain movie.[-]

Rated: Not Rated

Runtime: 1 hr 56 mins

Theatrical Release: May 14, 2004 Limited

Synopsis: A country town in South China. It's the spring of 1946 … less than a year since the defeated Japanese withdrew from China. A young woman languishes on the bomb-damaged walls of the small town. She is bored … frustrated … unfulfilled. The sound of a distant train whistle triggers thoughts of... A country town in South China. It's the spring of 1946 … less than a year since the defeated Japanese withdrew from China. A young woman languishes on the bomb-damaged walls of the small town. She is bored … frustrated … unfulfilled. The sound of a distant train whistle triggers thoughts of escape. Dai Liyan is the only surviving male of the Dai family. He married Yuwen eight years ago, just before the war started. When Japanese planes bombed the town, they evacuated to Suzhou; they returned to the family's ancestral home after the war to find it half in ruins, and moved back into the relatively intact Flower Pavilion. But then Dai Liyan fell ill with suspected tuberculosis. He and Yuwen began sleeping in separate rooms. Liyan gave up the thought of having children. The couple lives with Liyan's sister Xiu, who goes to a local school, and the family's elderly retainer Lao Huang. Liyan's health is not improved by watching his wife become his nursemaid: her vivacity has given way to a numbed ennui, and she cries alone in her room at night. But everything changes when an unexpected visitor arrives from Shanghai. Zhang Zhichen, now a qualified doctor, is Dai Liyan's old friend from college. He cuts a dashing figure in this rural setting. He is perturbed to find Liyan in such poor physical condition - and amazed to find him married to Yuwen, his own childhood neighbor and his first sweetheart. In the excitements of the reunion, long suppressed emotions are kept in check. Soon after though, Zhichen learns from Liyan that all passion has died in his marriage. Zhichen has a private word with Yuwen and both of them realize they still have strong feelings for each other. When Zhichen leaves to catch the Shanghai train, many things have changed in the Dai household … [More]

Genre: Dramas

Starring: Wu Jan, Hu Jingfan, Lu Sisi, Xin Bajqing

Director: Tian Zhuangzhuang
Screenwriter: Cheung Ah
Producer: Bill Kong, Marc Sillam, Yatmin Tang
Composer: Li Zhau

DVD Info

Release:

Nov 23, 2004

[DVD Details]

DVD Features:

  • Region (unknown)
  • Keep Case
  • Full Frame - 1.33

Additional Release Material:

  • Interview: 1. Director Tian Zhuangzhuang
  • Previews
  • Theatrical Trailer
  • Featurette

Buy It On DVD

Reviews

 
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Ratings Image
4/5

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Full Review | comment Comment
12/30/06
Empire Magazine
N/R

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Full Review | comment Comment
06/24/06
Derek Adams
Time Out
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B+

If you can go with the film's leisurely flow and accept the restraints it holds its lovers in check with, it can be a spellbinding film experience.

Full Review | comment Comment
06/22/05
Dennis Schwartz
Ozus' World Movie Reviews
N/R

Click to read the article

Full Review | comment Comment
01/15/05
Jeffrey M. Anderson
Combustible Celluloid
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3/4

Only a director who truly knows repression could have made a movie so subtle and so understanding.

Full Review | comment Comment
12/03/04
G. Allen Johnson
San Francisco Chronicle
Top Critic Icon Top Critic
Ratings Image
2/5

Crafted in a style that seems to be learned from films of the thirties and, for all its scope, might have been adapted from a stage play.

Full Review | comment Comment
11/23/04
Jules Brenner
Cinema Signals
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3.5/4

Even potentially crushing situations are diffused by the respect each character has for one another.

Full Review | comment Comment
11/04/04
Gabe Leibowitz
eCinemaCenter.com
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3/4

There aren't a lot of plot complications in Springtime, a remake of a celebrated 1948 Chinese film of the same name. It's the way Tian tells his story that impresses.

Full Review | comment Comment
09/30/04
Robert W. Butler
Kansas City Star
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B+

[Springtime in a Small Town is] a quiet, thoughtful and beautifully wrought film.

Full Review | comment Comment
08/31/04
Robin Clifford
Reeling Reviews
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3/5

Springtime in a Small Town moves at a leisurely pace. And because it's a work of taste and tact, you can watch it in a pleasurable state.

Full Review | comment Comment
08/06/04
Orlando Sentinel
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3.5/5

The drama can seem tepid from a contemporary Western perspective. But there's usually a tasty morsel of cinematography or performance just around the corner.

Full Review | comment Comment
08/05/04
Steve Schneider
Orlando Weekly
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3/4

Reinventing his source just as boldly as he has reinvented his artistic identity, Tian circumvents the usual mentality of remakes by making his material brand-new.

Full Review | comment Comment
07/10/04
Jonathan Rosenbaum
Chicago Reader
Top Critic Icon Top Critic
Ratings Image
A

It's heartbreak without the hysterics, and it's as beautiful as a still-life painting which makes you cry without you even understanding why.

Full Review | comment Comment
06/04/04
E! Online
Ratings Image
N/A

What makes [it] so effective is Tian’s very carefully wrought visual style and the performances of his tiny cast.

Full Review | comment Comment
05/29/04
Andy Klein
Los Angeles CityBeat
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3/4

Haunting film.

Full Review | comment Comment
05/28/04
Glenn Whipp
Los Angeles Daily News
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4/5

This isn't a radical film by any means, but in its gentle tempo, its avoidance of the obvious and stubborn insistence on the decency of its three touchingly human characters, 'Springtime in a Small Town' weighs in as refreshingly, pleasurably different.

Full Review | comment Comment
05/27/04
Manohla Dargis
Los Angeles Times
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Ratings Image
N/A

A movie that drifts across the screen with the delicacy of linen floating on a warm breeze, whose slow, sensual camera movements are like tiptoes on rice paper, yet which can sting us with the suddenness of a bee concealed in clover.

Full Review | comment Comment
05/26/04
Scott Foundas
L.A. Weekly
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5/5

After more than a decade in artistic exile, China's Tian Zhuangzhuang has resurfaced with a veritable vengeance, delivering what may well be the crowning achievement of his storied, turbulent career.

Full Review | comment Comment
05/23/04
Wade Major
Boxoffice Magazine
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N/A

The filmmaking is remote and austere, qualities often at odds with the story's emotions.

Full Review | comment Comment
05/20/04
Daniel Eagan
Film Journal International
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N/A

A film made with intelligence and craftsmanship.

Full Review | comment Comment
05/19/04
Lisa Rose
Newark Star-Ledger
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