Spring In A Small Town

Melancholy, poetic, moody, passionate and beguiling – this 1948 Chinese film is a delight from start to finish. Set in a small town after the Sino-Japanese War, the story centres around four people in a small household whose life is uprooted when an unexpected visitor arrives one sunny day in spring.

The beautiful and taciturn Zhou Yuwen (Wei Wei) has been married to Dai Liyan (Shi Yu), a member of the once wealthy Dai family, for several years. But Liyan has gone from riches to rags so to speak, and is now merely a shadow of his former self and an invalid who spends his time brooding over things and taking all sorts of medication. Yuwen gets his medicine on her outings to the nearby grocery shop and spends the way home walking along the city wall – her only ‘entertainment’ and escape from the daily drudgery back home. Although Liyan, who is ashamed of what has become of him, and Yuwen still care for one another their former passion has long fizzled out. When not exchanging small talk, the couple spend time in separate rooms, and even the house has seen better days. Although Yuwen looks after Liyan’s medical needs the pair is looked after by their loyal servant Lao Huang (Cui Chaoming). Only Liyan’s younger sister Dai Xiu (Zhang Hongmei), a student interested in singing and dancing keeps the household alive with her bouncy energy and carefree attitude.

One day, a surprise guest from Shanghai arrives at the house. It is Zhang Zhichen (Li Wei), a close childhood friend of Liyan. Zhichen has graduated and is now a doctor, and hasn’t visited his friend for over ten years. He is saddened to find Liyan in such poor health, but happy when he learns that his friend has married. A short while later, Liyan introduces Zhichen to Yuwen. They look at each other in astonishment and shock, but at first pretend to have never seen each other. We, the audience, realise straight away that Zhichen and Yuwen are anything but strangers to each other, however, Liyan does not catch on to it. Some days later Yuwen reveals to Liyan that their guest is in fact a former neighbour of hers that she has known for some considerable time. Liyan seem amused to hear about the coincidence, not realising that his wife is lying… Zhichen is Yuwen’s former lover, and she is still in love with him. It goes without saying that old passions awaken, especially since Liyan is too ill to provide his wife with any happiness or pleasure. Fighting off her growing desire at first, Yuwen comes to realise that the only reason she is still with Liyan is due to her duty as a wife, but it is Zhichen who makes her feel wanted. Meanwhile, young Xiu also develops a crush on their guest…

Beautifully and atmospherically shot by Li Shengwai, the story is powerful thanks to the understated acting where eyes and body language speak more than words. We never get to see the small town, instead, the action takes place primarily in Liyan’s house at the periphery of town, and nearby fields and country roads. It’s perhaps because of this rather intimate setting that we get truly involved in the emotions of the characters.

Spring In A small Town is released on DVD with the following Special Features:

* BFI re-release trailer
* A Small Town in China (1933, 9 mins): an intimate portrait of community life in an unidentified Chinese town
* This is China (1946, 9 mins): a fascinating compilation of scenes showing diversity and disparity in 1940s China
* Illustrated booklet with film notes and credits