A bad movie, which at times tests the patience of the audience. [Full Review in Spanish]

| Feb 13, 2020

Tian's new version is an assiduously respectful homage, yet a new work of art in its own right.

| Jan 9, 2018

The lead characters smoulder without ever catching aflame, while director Tian Zhuangzhaung weaves a disturbing web of deceit and betrayal.

| May 27, 2011

As vibrant as a live play in its impact, with its characters almost as tangible, this film draws on not just the words and emotions of the original material, but the classic language of earlier cinema.

| Oct 18, 2008

Beautifully photographed by Mark Lee (who also co-shot Wong Kar-Wai's In The Mood For Love), and delicately played by an untried cast, this confirms Tian as the Fifth Generation's unsung master.

| Original Score: 4/5 | Dec 30, 2006

The result is paradoxically more theatrical than the original -- but thanks to serene cinematography and superb design, sumptuously so.

| Jun 24, 2006

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.

| Original Score: B+ | Jun 22, 2005

Tian guides his story with great smoothness, providing a hint of unease with his constantly gliding camera and his penchant for viewing the action from behind grated windows and other obstacles.

| Original Score: 4/4 | Jan 15, 2005

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

| Original Score: 3/4 | Dec 3, 2004

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.

| Original Score: 2/5 | Nov 23, 2004

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

| Original Score: 3.5/4 | Nov 4, 2004

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.

| Original Score: 3/4 | Sep 30, 2004

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

| Original Score: B+ | Aug 31, 2004

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.

| Original Score: 3/5 | Aug 6, 2004

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 | Original Score: 3.5/5 | Aug 5, 2004

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.

| Original Score: 3/4 | Jul 10, 2004

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.

| Original Score: A | Jun 4, 2004

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

Full Review | May 29, 2004

Haunting film.

Full Review | Original Score: 3/4 | May 28, 2004

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 | Original Score: 4/5 | May 27, 2004