By Alice Wang (thatsbj.com)
Updated: 2008-05-12 15:08

 

Director: Gu Changwei

Set in an industrial city in northern China, Li Chun is a tale about a group of youngsters whose artistic dreams and aspirations conflict with the hopeless futility of their lives. Wang Cailing is a talented music teacher with a beautiful voice but a less than beautiful appearance. Her ambition to become an opera singer is at odds with the small-mindedness of her community and as a result she becomes increasingly alienated. The same can be said of Hu Jinquan –a male ballet teacher who is an outcast because of his profession. Meanwhile, Huang Sibao aspires to be a painter but has repeatedly failed the Central Academy of Fine Arts entrance exams.

As with his first feature, Peacock, Gu uses the 1980s as the backdrop for his tale –the decade when self-expression began to creep back into the consciousness of younger Chinese. Fans of Gu's first film might also note the similarities between the character of Wang Cailing and the elder sister in Peacock –neither can endure the mediocrity of their surroundings, which is the essence of their downfall.

The heavy subject matter intentionally contradicts the movie's title, in that there is no hope for the coming of spring –a new beginning –for the central protagonists. While not the most uplifting of films, Li Chun is worth seeing if only for Jiang Wenli’s excellent performance as Wang Cailing.