6. And the Spring Comes

And the Spring Comes, directed by Gu Changwei, may well be the best Chinese art film of 2008. However, it hit screens at a bad time, just as the Sichuan earthquake struck. Nobody was in the mood for movies and the film suffered a box office fiasco.

The film records the life-struggles of a group of average people, and the conflicts between their dreams and harsh reality. Audiences were moved by the sad and paradoxical female character of Wang Cailing, an unattractive schoolteacher persistently pursuing an operatic career. Wang Cailing symbolized those intellectuals who followed a complex spiritual path in the 1980s and 1990s when China was undergoing enormous transformation. Many saw themselves reflected in her. It is a cold tragedy of time, but contains some touching, warm and enduring emotions.