Spring in a Small Town is a 1948 film from China, directed by Fei Mu.
It is set in a nameless Chinese village at some point soon after the end of World War II (or to be specific, the Second Sino-Japanese War) in 1945. Yuwen is a woman in her twenties who married into the once-prosperous Dai family shortly before the outbreak of war. The formerly splendid Dai mansion was badly damaged in the war, and over half of it is in ruins. Her marriage to Dai Liyan is a marriage in name only; they sleep in separate beds and indeed hardly talk to each other. Liyan complains of various illnesses but his real problem seems to be a terminal depression over the fall in his family's fortunes. Yuwen for her part is sick of the town and wishes she could leave. The only one who isn't perpetually sad is Liyan's 16-year-old sister Xiu, who is as cheerful as her brother is mopey.
The Dai family's humdrum existence is disturbed by the return of Zhang Zichen, Liyan's childhood friend, who went away before the war and hasn't been back for ten years. Liyan is delighted to welcome his old friend into his home. What he does not know is that ten years ago, Zichen and Yuwen were in love.
Tropes:
- Anguished Declaration of Love: A sobbing Yuwen does this, admitting that she loves Zichen as she suggests they might run away together.
- Book Ends: The first scene is Yuwen walking along the ruined city walls, thinking about how much her life sucks. The last scene is Yuwen walking along the ruined walls, watching Zichen leaving town as Xiu sees him off—but this time Liyan is there with Yuwen and takes her hand.
- Chekhov's Skill: Zichen is a doctor. He saves Liyan after Liyan tries to overdose on pills.
- Downer Beginning: The opening scene has Yuwen, walking by the ruined village wall, narrating about how the family home was largely destroyed in the war, how she hardly ever sees her husband, and how boring life in the town is. She wishes she had the courage to die.
- Establishing Character Moment: Xiu is first seen throwing open her window, greeting the day with a big smile on her face. It's quite the contrast after Yuwen has spoken of her sadness and her failed marriage.
- Girlish Pigtails: Xiu wears her hair in pigtails, which marks her as younger than her brother and sister-in-law but also emphasizes her bubbly personality.
- Happily Failed Suicide: Liyan overdoses on sleeping pills but Zichen saves him. Afterwards, Liyan and Yuwen come to an understanding and form a new intimacy with each other.
- Impoverished Patrician: For a given value of "impoverished", since the Dai family still has one servant left and for that matter they aren't starving even though no one has a job. But they obviously were filthy rich before the war and had a whole host of servants. Their once-imposing mansion was largely destroyed in the war and the family is living in what's left.
- In Vino Veritas: The family has a party where they paly drinking games and get good and soused. The intimacy between Yuwen and Zichen after they both get drunk clues Xiu in to what is going on between her would-be boyfriend and her sister-in-law.
- Love Dodecahedron: Yuwen, her husband Liyan, and her old boyfriend Zichen. Then there's Xiu, who is turning 16 and who is obviously sweet on Zichen; Liyan suggests that they should marry off his sister and his friend in a couple of years when she's of age.
- Minimalist Cast: There are only five actors in the movie: Yuwen, Liyan, Zichen, Xiu, and Huang the servant. There aren't even any extras.
- Narrator: Yuwen narrates the film, sharing her inner thoughts and her depression with the viewer.
- Old-Fashioned Rowboat Date: The four of them—Yuwen, Liyan, Zichen, and Xiu—go on a sort of double date on a rowboat on the river. There's a lot of tension, since Yuwen and Zichen are drawn to each other while Liyan and Xiu have no idea.
- Old Flame: Yuwen's life is thrown into turmoil when Zichen, her old boyfriend from when she was a teenager before the war, returns after ten years away.
- Old Retainer: Huang, the one servant that the Dai family has left. Apparently he has worked for the Dai family since Liyan was a child. Zichen wonders at how Huang's hair hasn't gone white yet.
- Only Known by Their Nickname: Dai Xiu is only ever called "sister", "little sister", or "little miss." It would be No Name Given except for the fact that she gets an onscreen title identifying her as Dai Xiu.
