Synopsis

Zhou Yuwen and Dai Liyan had a fairly ordinary life until Zhang Zhichen, a young doctor, came to their small town. Zhichen had been Liyan's friend for eight years and Yuwen's former lover, but he was in a state of emotional turmoil. Liyan chose to let them be together and even planned to take his own life. In the end, Yuwen reignited her love for her husband and chose to stay with him, while Zhichen decided to leave. The film captures the psychological state of the petty bourgeois and the small-town people, and is praised for its delicate handling of emotions. Drawing from the Chinese poetic tradition, it employs objects to show qualities of people, and scenes to express feelings, thus creating a lyrical psychological film, and a singular artistic masterpiece in the history of Chinese cinema.

Alternative Keywords: Xiao cheng zhi chun