YNOT at the Movies

At the end of "Peacock," the voiceover from the younger brother says:

"我恍惚记得，爸爸走那天，很快就是农历立春了。
I vaguely remember that when dad passed away, spring was about to begin."

It has been regarded as a cue for Gu Changwei's second film "And the Spring Comes (立春)" (China 2007, 105 min.), the second installment of Gu's trilogy about ordinary people. Poetic and profoundly touching, like Gu's first film, this beautiful film tells a compelling story about a teacher's pursuit of her dreams and love, although it is not a sequel of "Peacock."

Set in a small town near Baotou, Wang Cailing is a vocal teacher who has an magnificent voice and a big dream—to be an opera (Italian Opera, not Beijing Opera) singer at the National Opera House. She is not dreaming alone: she meets a young man who wants to be a China's Vincent van Gogh, a gay ballet dancer who pasts his prime, and many other artist misfits. All of them struggle not only to realize their dreams, but more pressingly, to get accepted and understood by the society, which means to survive.

The film is a tribute to those artists who are trapped in the hush reality but keep their hopes alive. Despite the repeated setbacks, they continue to long for a new life, a new love, and a new world, no matter what it takes. Their experiences are often heartbroken, but never fail to inspire.

Jiang Wenli (蒋雯丽), director Gu's wife in real life, strikingly played the misfortunate, unattractive, and trying protagonist Wang Cailing. Jiang put on 15 lbs and disappeared completely in her character both emotionally and physically. Her outstanding performance earned her the Best Actress award at the Rome Film Festival in 2007, when the film was premiered.

Many member of the production team of "And the Spring Comes" are from Gu's first film "Peacock." For example, Li Qiang (李樯) wrote the eloquent script and Dou Peng (窦鹏) composed the fantastic music.

In the film, Jiang's character Wang Chailing wonders philosophically:

每年春天一来，实际上也不意味着什么
Although every spring comes as usual
但我总觉得要有什么大事发生似的
I always feel something big will happen
我心里总是蠢蠢欲动
And my heart is constantly ready for something
可等春天整个过去了
But after the spring is all over
根本什么也没发生
Nothing has happened
我就很失望
I get very disappointed
好像错过了什么似的
As if I have missed something

The audiences must be wondering as well: Will love and hope that millions of Wang Chailing have been dreaming about come true next spring? Is something going to happen to them or are they going to miss out again?

However, one thing will be certain: they will not stop dreaming.