Xiao cheng zhi chun (1948)
Directed by
Fei Mu
Also Known As:
Spring in a Small Town (USA)
Runtime: 93 min
Country: China
Language: Mandarin
Color: Black and White
Sound Mix: Mono
imdb: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0189219/
nice review: http://www.talkingpix.co.uk/ReviewsSpri ... n1948.html
Fei Mu (1906-1951) was a talented screen director He acquired a profound understanding and good command of the traditional techniques of artistic expression in classical Chinese aesthetics and the characteristics of realism in film production. He tried hard to achieve a perfect combination of the two in film creation. Fei Mu was adept at portraying the temperament of the characters and their individual traits, especially in vivid, detailed depictions of their psychological activities and in employing various art factors to serve such portrayals, thus forming a style of his own. Pictures in the films he directed were concise and compact, with a graceful composition and slow but fresh and elegant rhythms.
Fei Mu made ten films, including Night in the City and Spring in a Small Town, which is considered his most representative piece. spring in a Small Town deals with the sentiments among the members of a family It is a work of high artistry and cinematography. The film describes the feelings, moral consciousness, psychological characteristics, and behavior of ordinary people. it was precisely in the elegant, graceful, and delicate form of film that such descriptions resided and the true human nature and the sense of beauty of the art achieved perfect harmony. The film was listed at the top of the ten best Chinese films by critics abroad in the 1980s and won fame for Chinese cinema around the world.
For more than three decades, Fei Mu's Spring in a small town was a forgotten film. Fei Mu moved to Hong Kong soon after making it, and died there in 1951. He was later reviled as a "rightist" by the apparatchiks who wrote the official history of Chinese film for the Communist Party, and none of his films was deemed important.
This picture began to change only in the early 1980s, when the China Film Archive re-opened (like other institutions, it had been closed down during the Cultural Revolution) and made a new print from the original negative of Spring in a small town. The film quickly found a new and admiring audience. Many Chinese critics - especially in Hong Kong and Taiwan - consider it the greatest Chinese film ever made.
Note:This film is a truly great classic, Wei wei (her name is same with me...)'s stunning performance is one of the best I've ever seen in the film. I've translated all dialogues to english, give me some time to adjust delay time, just get the film at first.
Spring in a Small Town - The best Chinese-language movie of all time
Fei.Mu.-.Xiaocheng.zhichun.-.Spring.in.a.Small.Town.(1948).-(auess).avi 
Fei.Mu.-.Xiaocheng.zhichun.-.Spring.in.a.Small.Town.(1948).English.subs.-(auess).srt 
I have Tian Zhuangzhuang's remake, but didn't want to watch it before I had the chance to see Fei Mu's original. Now, thanks to you, I'll finally be able to see this mythic film. A million thanks! 
but not the same characters, just the same pronunciation.
I saw street angel once, it's a very funny comedy, sure one of the best, if I got I'll share it. "The Lin Family Shop" I never seen yet, but I trust Mao Dun's work is very high level.
now you can enjoy this great classic. 
