EIGHTEEN SPRINGS (1997)
"It is as difficult to love someone forever as it is to hate someone forever."
3.5 out of ****
Starring Wu Chien-lien, Leon Lai, Anita Mui, Huang Lei, Ge You Directed by Ann Hui Written by Kin-chung Chan, from the novel by Eileen Chang Cinematography by Ping-bin Lee
EIGHTEEN SPRINGS is a love story in which no one ever says the words "I love you." No one speaks the word "love" in any context, as far as I recall. There is talk of marriage, of money, of couples who are good pairs, of couples who are poor matches--but never of love. Marriage is less a matter of what is right than what is appropriate. Yet the movie is founded on the convincing, touching, deeply felt romance between Shujun (FALLEN ANGELS' Leon Lai) and Manjing (EAT DRINK MAN WOMAN's Wu Chien-lien), two young people who are transparently in love, even if they never say the words.
Shujun is the son of a wealthy family in Nanjing. Manjing's father died when she was young, and her sister (Anita Mui) had to take a shameful job as a "ballroom hostess" to provide for the family. Because the sister's work reflects poorly on Manjing's entire family, she is an unsuitable bride for Shujun--according to his family.
Today, Shujun might ignore his family's wishes, but he and Manjing live in Shanghai in the 1930s, where marriages were decided by decorum as much as by desire, so he does not have that liberty. They live in a world not unlike Jane Austen's, where social codes and manners govern all behaviour, and the way people act within such strict guidelines can be at times humorous, at times heartbreaking.
Heartbreaking, mostly, for the difference in social status is merely the beginning of the lovers' problems. Shujun's choice of family over self has tragic consequences, especially for Manjing. The problems become perhaps too extreme--Chinese movies never seem to err on the side of caution when it comes to providing hardships for their characters. The latter half of the film struck me as being a bit too much, because the first half is so gentle, so graceful and delicate in its exploration of young love. Nevertheless, the idyllic beginning makes the lovers' later separation, their loss and longing, terribly poignant.
EIGHTEEN SPRINGS is refreshing in the way it devotes time to the courtship, unlike most movies, which treat romance in a perfunctory manner. Here, we see love developing, rather than being informed about it after the fact.
Shujun and Manjing are introduced by a mutual friend (Huang Lei) when Shujun comes to work in a factory in Shanghai. The budding romantic tension is subtle but unmistakable. Soon Shujun and Manjing are finding moments alone together, but there is no overt romance, no profession of love. They grow close, and, without even a kiss, are soon discussing marriage. It is typical of their hesitant courtship that marriage is not so much proposed as suggested: "Wouldn't it be nice if we were married?" But we can believe that it would be nice. They are both quiet, mild-mannered, conscientious; they are comfortable together.
Their love manifests itself in small, understated gestures. Shujun learns that Manjing lost one of her gloves, so he takes a flashlight and searches through the woods at night to find it. When he gives it to her the next day, he doesn't tell her about the trouble he went through--clearly, the act of giving, of pleasing her, is all the gratification he needs. He walks her home from work every night, and when they part, they simply say, "See you tomorrow," but the way they glance at each other as they do, awkward, guarded, wanting to say more but afraid to do so, perfectly captures the fragile emotions of young lovers. Credit for this belongs to Lai and Wu, who are both wonderful: they imbue mundane exchanges and brief gestures with complex, profound, restrained feelings.
This is one of the great pleasures of the film, that it pays attention to the nuances of feeling that attend even the smallest gestures. In this sense, it is a domestic movie, a movie about everyday lives, everyday things. Such films can be drab, but in the right hands they can be fascinating--as this one is--because they remind us that there are hidden worlds of emotion that we tend to forget about, that we take for granted as we go about our lives. Unfortunately, Shujun and Manjing never get the chance to take those emotions for granted.
A Review by David Dalgleish (July 2/98)
dgd@intouch.bc.ca
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