Spring Subway (film)

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Movie
German title Spring Subway
Original title Kaiwang chuntian de ditie 开往 春天 的 地铁
Country of production China
original language Mandarin
Publishing year 2002
Rod
Director Zhang Yibai
script Liu Fendou
production Molly Hassell
music Zhang Yadong
cut Liu Miaomiao
occupation

Spring Subway is a Chinese romantic film directed by Zhang Yibai, starring Xu Jingley and Le Geng . Zhang Yang , the sixth generation director, also plays a role in this work. The film represents a relatively new genre in China, an artistically and urban designed commercial film that aims to draw attention to the young Chinese middle class. Spring Subway is a stylistic film that plays with chronological conventions and flashbacks, and where the characters often break through the fourth wall and speak directly to the audience. The film was produced by the film studio China Youth Film Studio and the independent film studio Electric Orange Entertainment (which, by the way, is directed by Liu Fendou , the film's scriptwriter).

action

Jianbin (Geng Le) and Xiaohui (Xu Jinglei) are a young couple who have been married for seven years and live in Beijing . The beginning of the film shows a couple, bored with their lives, whose relationship is in a hopeless situation. Xiaohui, who works for a design studio, begins a tempting flirtation with one of his customers, Lao Hu, a coffee shop owner (played by director Zhang Yang). Jianbin, for his part, was recently released, but he keeps it a secret: he dresses to go to work every morning and hides his briefcase in a public toilet . But above all, he gets on the Beijing subway , where he spends the whole day. While Jianbin rides the subway every day, he (and the audience too) notice that several romances and relationships are blooming around him. Wang Yao (Fan Wei), a 34-year-old chef, was shot dead when his blind date Li Chuan (Wang Ning) was badly wounded in a gas explosion. Meanwhile, another fellow traveler on the subway and a healthy food seller (Ke Lan) who tries to sell her produce in the subway car every day discovers that her boyfriend is cheating on her and has decided to leave. The strange couple, the chef and the saleswoman, finally confess their love, become friends and even intend to marry. Another relationship begins in the subway, namely that between Da Ming (Tu Qiang), a young man, and the photo shop clerk Tian Hai (Gao Yuanyuan). The very shy man takes photos of himself and notes on a piece of paper that he would like to get to know the girl, but he escapes at the last moment. When Tian Hai finally finds him and walks over to him, he is shame and unable to speak, but he manages to communicate with her and gives her his cell phone number while the train continues. As for Jianbin, his life seems to be an out of control spiral. Unable to pay the rent and quickly penniless, he also believes that his wife may be having an affair , even though Xiaohui is only on friendly terms with Lao Hu. However, Jianbin tells his wife that his employer has decided to send him to France for further training and is starting to become familiar with the idea of ​​leaving Xiaohui while visiting the blind Master after knowing her name (Wang Yao). By posing as a cook, the two start a close friendship. After Jianbin decided to stand up in a scene where he set fire to Lao Hu's newspaper, the relationship between Jianbin and Xiaohui appears to be on the verge of self-destruct as neither wants to uncover the truth that is inside them rests. However, Xiaohui eventually learns from Wang Yao, the chef, that Jianbin has lost his job and has always been to the subway for the past six months. Instead of going to the airport, Jianbin always went to the hospital to see Li Chuan remove the bandages from her face. But he always leaves her before she can see him because Jianbin realizes that he still loves his wife. The film ends with Xiaohui and Jianbin meeting in the same subway station where they were seven years ago when they came to Beijing.

Contributors

  • Geng Le as Liu Jianbin, a 28-year-old male in Beijing. Liu recently lost his job, but he still pretends to drive to work every day while spending much of his time on the Beijing subway.
  • Xu Jinglei as Chen Xiaohui, who has been his wife for 7 years.
  • Zhang Yang as Lao Hu, a customer of Xiaohuis Design Studio.
  • Wang Ning as Li Chuan, an injured teacher.
  • Fan Wei as Wang Yao, a cook.
  • Ke Lan as a saleswoman, whose name is not mentioned in the film and appears in the trailer under the name Public Relations.
  • Gao Yuanyuan as Tian Ai, a shopkeeper and object of Da Ming's affection.
  • Tu Qiang as Da Ming, a young man Jianbin met on the train.

History of production

The film is Zhang Yibai's first as director. Until the film Spring Subway , Zhang had mainly worked in the music video genre and for television. Spring Subway is also the first film from the brand new Electric Orange Entertainment, Liu Fendou's independent Beijing film production company. The film is Liu's first attempt at writing and producing a film. In contrast to many films in China, however, Spring Subway managed to obtain approval from the State Administration of Radio, Film and Television. The motto of the film can be translated from Chinese as follows: “Is there still love after 7 years?”.

music

The music for the film was composed by Zhang Yadong and will be interpreted by the pop rock band Yu Quan.

reception

Spring Subway is significant in that it represents a new style of Chinese cinema . In contrast to the most controversial works by sixth generation directors like Jia Zhangke or Wang Xiaoshuai , whose films are normally banned by state authorities, Spring Subway received state filming permission from Zhang Yibai. According to a critic, the film is an example of an "ambitious, independent Chinese film" that bypasses the mostly state-owned film studios, but enjoys popularity both at home and abroad. In particular, Zhang's film reflects a new optimism that breaks with typically Chinese films, while others have noted that the film is indeed "more international" because of its sensitivity. A critic of the Hawaii International Film Festival praised the universal appeal when he said that the story of the film “could have played out anywhere in any city and that of course every person who has loved once experiences some of the experiences of the characters in the film Has". Spring Subway has had some success at various film festivals such as Udine , Cannes , Seattle and others. In May 2002 Spring Subway made its debut in China.

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