There is also a remake of it, springtime in a small town 2002, which i have not had the opportunity to watch. Director fei mus spring in a small town 1948 has been hailed as one of the greatest if not the greatest chinese films ever made. Springtime in a small town is a 2002 chinese film directed by tian zhuangzhuang. It was just after world war ii which itself had been folded into the much lengthier sinojapanese war but was just before mao zedongs ultimate victory in the communist revolution. Why spring in a small town is the one film you should watch this week video. Springtime in a small town marks the return of tian zhuangzhuang to the. Yet when i came out, instead i found myself rather underwhelmed, but it most certainly is not a bad film. Enjoy a rich lineup of tv shows and movies included with your prime membership. The subsequent upheaval saw the director branded a rightist, or reactionary he fled to hong kong. Taking place in a ruined family compound after the war, the film tells the story of the once prosperous dai family. At that stage, i could only get hold of the original on a fuzzy vhs copy. Search results for spring in a small town dvd netflix.
Spring in a small town 1948 the movie crash course. Ironically, the title of spring in a small town, which was made in 1948, may actually sound familiar, not because its been available here it hasnt, and until the bfis current release of the film, it has rarely screened in uk cinemas but because there was a release of a very beautiful 2002 remake, entitled springtime in a small town, by the dream team of director tian. Watch spring in a small town now on your favorite device. Spring in a small town is a chinese film released in 1948 and directed by fei mu, a director known for having great empathy for women and reflecting that in his. Spring in a small town 1948 chinese movie database. Spring in a small town is, for the most part, subtly acted, written, and directed and is not afraid to use symbolism when appropriate. Spring and springtime in a small town slant magazine. The film is a remake of director fei mus 1948 film and its original. Regarded as the finest work from the first great era of chinese filmmaking, fei mus quiet, piercingly poignant study of adulterous desire and guiltridden despair. Video there would appear to have been no real restoration done on the film, which is presented here in a quite poor quality print. In a time when most films were colored by the politics of the time, spring in a. Ive heard nothing but showers of praise towards spring in a small town considering how it is frequently regarded as one of the greatest films from the history of chinese cinema. Shanghai director fei mus final film spring in a small town appeared at the end of an era, coming out in 1948, a year before revolution engulfed china. Released 1948, spring in a small town stars cui chaoming, wei li, yu shi, wei wei the movie has a runtime of about 1 hr 25 min, and received a score of out of 100 on metacritic, which put.
Spring in a small town uses this schematic to build a tight, emotionally tense triangular drama that questions fidelity, suppressed emotions and the balance of love and responsibility. Spring in a small town is a fine movie with a cast of about five characters set in a dilapidated house and its immediate surroundings. Spring in a small town is a film directed by fei mu with li wei, li wei, shi yu, zhang hongmei, year. One of the chinese communist partys acts upon their victory. In the case of 2002 film springtime in a small town, tian zhuangzhuangs remake of the legendary 1948 film by fei mu, spring in a small town, the challenge. Spring in a small town 1948 movie dvd rent download. Often cited as the greatest chinese film ever, spring in a small town differs from other films of the era. If it is not directly related, or has only temporary contents, or requires registration or payment to view the contents, the link may not be accepted. Film notes spring in a small town university at albany.
Dvd spring in a small town is released in the usa by cinema epoch. The film s early neglect was presumably due to its supposed eschewal of gritty socialist realism which was the dominant art culture among socialist countries in those days and for its pursual instead of sentimental melodrama 2. The film is in black and white and its screenwriter is li tianji. The film follows evan, a young man who travels to italy and elopes with a woman named louise who, unbeknownst to evan, harbors a dangerous secret. While most films are banned for being too political one way or another, spring in a small town was banned for not being political enough. Regarded as the finest work from the first great era of chinese filmmaking, fei mus quiet, piercingly poignant study of adulterous desire and guiltridden despair now restored is a remarkable rediscovery. The oftcited crowning achievement of classic chinese cinema is a mesmerizing portrait of female desire and subjectivity that ranks alongside brief encounter and the works of mikio naruse. Wei wei plays a woman who lives a lonely life, shackled by her care for her gentle, but ill. Because it uses a limited number of interior sets for most of the story, it gave me the feeling i was watching a stage play that had been expanded for the screen. Taking place in a ruined family compound after the sinojapanese war, the film tells the story of the once prosperous dai family.
Spring in a small town 1948 mu fei, fei mu releases. The film is a remake of director fei mus 1948 film and its original screenwriter is li tianji chinese. The remake of springtime in a small town does not suffer from the vanity of obsession. May be if all films were like springtime in a small town, life would be a tad boring. Spring in a small town 1948 trailer bfi dvd youtube. Spring is a 2014 american romantic body horror film directed by justin benson and aaron moorhead and starring lou taylor pucci and nadia hilker. Spring in a small town is a chinese film released in 1948 and directed by fei mu, a director known for having great empathy for women and reflecting that in his films. But it resurfaced in the 1980s, as the china film archive opened its doors and spring in a small town was championed, earning itself the spot of no 1 chinese film in 2005 at hong kong film. Spring in a small town letterboxd your life in film. Spring in a small town 1948 stream and watch online. Spring in a small town 1948 dai liyan, the crippled patriarch of the once prosperous dai family, lives in his ruined family compound with his wife, liyan. The film was produced and funded by wenhua film company, which was facing a great financial deficit while producing this.
Spring in a small town film society of lincoln center. Spring in a small town came out at a weird point in chinese filmmaking history. The film is in black and white and its screenwriter is li tianji chinese. As it is, the film is a fresh breeze in a stale room, which is also an apt metaphor for the story of a childhood friend and old flame reappearing in a small town, disrupting a dull, lifeless marriage. For decades it was almost impossible to see chinese films here in the west so directors like mu fei meant little to us but if spring in a small town had been the only film hed made his place in cinematic history would still be assured. Same is true for havoc in heaven and third sister liu, the former one being a classy animation about the monkey king, the latter one being a classy movie with lots of traditional folk songs. Spring in a small town 1948 trailer bfi dvd fei mus piercingly poignant study of adulterous desire and guiltridden despair, newly restored by the china film archive, is a remarkable. The husband and patriarch, dai liyan, is ill and spends his days in the courtyard.
In a time when most films were colored by the politics of the time, spring in a small town is a story of a woman with a love dilemma. Spring in a small town is a highly appraised chinese movie from the 1940s. In fei mus spring in a small town, the passion of former teenage sweethearts zhou yuwen wei wei and zhang zhichen li wei, thrown together ten years after they parted, is extratorturous because yuwens hypochondriacal husband, dai liyan shi yu, is. In the ruins of his semidestroyed family home, dai. I did not like the camera fading into black because it looked. Though the two movies are referred to by different english titles, they share the same title in chinese. Small town holiday romance the springs book 1 read online. S ince we know so little in this country about pre80s mainland chinese cinema, you would think the recently released dvd of spring in a small town ranked by the hong kong film awards in 2005 as the greatest chinese movie ever madewould warrant more coverage from film journalists than it has received. Find release information for spring in a small town 1948 mu fei, fei mu on allmovie. This is the time during which fei mus film takes place. In my mind, the film had a wonderful visual, such as stylish costumes, well footage countryside, realistic production designing done by ning che and dexiong zhu and shengewe lis decent monochrome cinematography. Spring in a small town, 1948, directed by fei mu, casted by yu shi, li wei, wei wei. After eight years of marriage to liyan once rich but now sickly and almost. Seen by many as the greatest chinese film ever, spring in a small town is different from other films of the era.
Great list, especially since spring in a small town has entered the public domain quite a while ago now. Married to a depressed, chronically ill man, housewife yuwen wei wei is quietly suffocating in a provincial village when an old flame unexpectedly walks back into her life. The film is presented on a singlelayer disc in ntsc format and is not region encoded. It was only after the end of the cultural revolution and the beginning of chinas new openness to the west that the chinese film community rediscovered spring in a small town and deemed it a masterpiece. Spring in a small town, directed by fei mu in 1948, this film tells the story of a once prosperous family living in a ruined compound following the sinojapanese war annie. The husband and patriarch, dai liyan is an invalid, and spends his days in the courtyard nostalgic for the past.
85 787 971 586 478 918 1034 467 1572 473 866 811 938 1566 708 938 929 510 1394 1388 1567 323 1034 909 483 381 1069 903 891 749 363 111 1357 1061 427 1455 1485 449 1271 698 633 793