Released in 1948, Spring in a Small Town was directed by Fei Mu, a director who made outstanding contributions to Chinese film history in the early days of China, and the film, although it was initially thought to have forgotten the times, showed the pathological depression of the petty bourgeoisie and petty citizens, and played a negative role in the period when the people's movement in the Liberation War was at its peak. However, from the perspective of film art, its artistic expression and storytelling form have not been surpassed in the history of Chinese film.
Although Spring in a Small Town did not participate in the awards at the time of its release, it was nominated and recognized again and again as the film developed. In 1995, "Spring in a Small Town" was selected as one of the 10 classic works in the 90-year history of Chinese cinema; in 2005, it was named the first place in the top 100 films in the century by the Academy Awards, and it was also rated as the 127th in the top 250 film history by 846 film critics of the British film magazine "Sight and Hear"; in 2011, the Taiwan Golden Horse Film Festival voted for the top 100 Chinese films, and it won the fifth place.
"Spring in a Small Town" tells the story of a married woman who meets her former lover again after her husband is ill for a long time. It is also the most common love triangle story in film works, but it does not focus on the conflict of events that occur in the love triangle, but focuses on the psychological changes of the three people. No matter what kind of drama film, the conflict of events is often limited by the era and the background of the story, while the psychological conflict is often seen as new.
There are only five characters in the movie: Dai Liyan, a squire who has fallen in the middle of the family road, his wife Zhou Yuwen, his sister Dai Xiu, and the servant Lao Huang, as well as Zhang Zhichen, who suddenly came to his house and was Dai Liyan's playmate ten years ago, and Zhou Yuwen's lover. While using the language of the camera to advance the plot, the film uses Zhou Yuwen's prose-like psychological monologue to illustrate her psychological state. According to her self-description, the audience can see more clearly the psychological changes of several other characters.
The film begins with a big monologue. In the monologue, it is said that her husband Dai Liyan had most of his house blown up due to the war, and he felt that the inheritance left by his ancestors had been destroyed in his hands and thus lost his faith in life, and that he had suffered from a heart attack after three years of marriage with her, unable to work and move, and had been devastated ever since. For several years, in addition to eating and sleeping, he stayed at home every day, almost always in the courtyard between the broken walls.
In addition, he and his wife have been living separately since they fell ill, while Zhou Yuwen went out every day to buy vegetables and cook, as well as cooperate with Lao Huang to do some housework. In addition to eating together and sitting together, they spent the rest of the day in the yard while she went to her sister's room to do embroidery work. Their relationship, in the words of Zhou Yuwen, is "I can't meet twice, and I can't say two words." ”
When the spring of the year arrived, Zhou Yuwen went to sell vegetables and came back to cook as usual. She has a habit of walking around the city every time she comes home from selling vegetables. The high view and the scenery of the only city wall full of some life in the small town can vent the boring mood of family life.
The tall but dilapidated wall was like a siege marriage, encircling both their families and their inner yearnings. And after actually living in it, I want to go out in front of the boring reality. However, before the lack of a third party, it was just a fantasy until the emergence of Zhang Zhichen.
Zhang Zhichen's sudden arrival broke everything that was lifeless and gave Zhou Yuwen a chance. Before this, neither Dai Liyan nor his wife expected each other to know him, but he was not only Dai Liyan's playmate since childhood, but also as close as a brother to him, and also as close as a brother and sister to Dai Xiu. But with a little contact between each other, what really surprised the Dai brothers and sisters was that Zhou Yuwen and Zhang Zhichen were not only former lovers, but also Zhou Yuwen did not forget love because of marriage, and still has a special love for him.
Although the arrival of his good friend brought a surprise to Dai Liyan, he also lost his love for life even more because he saw Zhang Zhichen's healthy and energetic body. When he knew that his wife truly loved Zhang Zhichen, and faced with the guilt of not caring for his wife for many years, he was unwilling and discouraged, and with a trace of pity for his wife, he decided to die to complete them.
Although, he believed that his wife and his good friends did not do anything out of the ordinary to apologize to him except for the resurgence of old feelings. But because of the little loss of dignity, he could not express this layer of thoughts to his face, and could only commit suicide by taking medicine alone.
In terms of Zhou Yuwen, through several days of frequent contact with Zhang Zhichen, he became more and more certain that he loved him deeply, and he still loved himself deeply. For Dai Liyan, even if she tried to love him before he was sick, it was fruitless, and after that, she was just doing her duty as a wife.
However, what she did not expect was that the desire and call for love in her heart did not ignite Zhang Zhichen's courage to face worldly ethics, and her relationship with Zhang Zhichen was repeatedly affectionate and ended in courtesy. At first, she was enthusiastic about Zhang Zhichen, and then Zhang Zhichen's enthusiasm for her was rejected.
Ten years ago, Zhang Zhichen had no choice but to leave because her mother did not agree with their love, he did not make an effort, she did not wait for him, and two years later she married Dai Liyan; ten years later, Zhang Zhichen had to refuse because of the relationship between good friends. On Dai Xiu's birthday, after the two were drunk, Zhou Yuwen went to his room to prepare to "dedicate" herself to him, but he controlled himself under the confusion and immediately walked out of the room to lock her in the house. She broke the glass in the middle of the door, injured her hand, but unlocked it.
The breaking of the glass not only symbolizes that Zhou Yuwen has exhausted all her strength to pursue love, but also completely exposes Zhang Zhichen's cowardice of being subject to ethics before facing love. Ten years ago, it was because I didn't get the permission of my parents, and ten years later, I couldn't bear the betrayal of my friendship.
The next day, when Zhou Yuwen went to buy vegetables, she stood again at the head of the wall, physically and mentally damaged, she wanted to die, but when she thought of her responsibilities as a wife, she stopped.
Dai Liyan did not know all this happening between them, until his wife frankly told him that she had always loved Zhang Zhichen in her heart, although at this time she was deeply cold to Zhang Zhichen, but she still did not deny her love in front of her husband. When Dai Liyan committed suicide to complete their affairs, Zhang Zhichen was even more guilty and anxious to leave in the face of such a situation, but Zhou Yuwen instead felt Dai Liyan's sincere love for her, and gradually gave up on Zhang Zhichen.
On the day Zhang Zhichen left, she did not go to send him.
When Zhang Zhichen left, she once again habitually walked up the city wall to look into the distance, and her husband no longer stayed in the dilapidated courtyard, but dragged his fragile body with a stick to his side, and Zhou Yuwen pointed his finger into the distance...
The film ends in this way, symbolizing that their husband and wife have received each other's support and love, but also symbolizing that even if they live in this lifeless town, they also ignite the love of life and life because of the beauty of spring, and also because this spring begins to truly understand each other.
The shots of "Spring in a Small Town" are mostly based on medium scenes, and the shots with symmetry and the characters cannot be fully displayed symbolize both the inaccuracy of love in the hearts of several main characters, and the deprivation of their love by ethics and morality. In addition, for such a film that focuses on portraying the psychology of the characters, close-up shots are rarely used, which shows that the director does not criticize ethics or has personal emotions in shooting such a story, but allows the film language to show the psychology of the characters as much as possible.
The richness of symbolic factors such as door frames, mosquito nets, orchids, dilapidated courtyards, decaying city walls, and songs sung by Dai Xiu, as well as the restrained elegance of the soundtrack, enrich all the psychological expressions that fit the characters in this film. In terms of editing, the way of fading out is to lightly cover up their psychological changes in the past, making the art form of the whole film fully in line with the expression of love in Chinese culture. All these have improved the artistry of "Spring in a Small Town" little by little and made it perfect.
The story of a clichéd "love triangle" is worth recalling because of the high artistic expression of "Spring in a Small Town", although the film does not have any subjective color to describe a love story, the audience can empathize with the psychological changes of the characters. We will be curious because of Zhou Yuwen's boldness, we will be angry because of Zhang Zhichen's cowardice, and we will be moved by Dai Liyan's tolerance. In turn, we will not be disgusted by the fact that Lao Huang is a servant.
I think that no matter how many years have passed, the "love triangle" story in "Spring in a Small Town" will still be the most memorable classic in the history of Chinese film!
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