Zaochun eryue (Early Spring)

Despite the strict censorship in the early People's Republic of China, some films managed to carry on the humanitarian spirit of the Golden Age of Shanghai cinema. One of these was Xie Tieli’s nuanced film "Early Spring". Set in the 1920s, the story follows Xiao Jianqiu, a young urban intellectual who takes a job as a village schoolteacher in eastern China. Driven by revolutionary idealism, he attempts to help the family of a poor widow whose husband he had known previously. At the same time, he finds himself drawn to the spirited, independent Tao Lan (played by Xie Fang, also seen in "Two Stage Sisters"), the headmaster’s sister. A free spirit whose only creed is "individualism," she appears to be Xiao’s perfect intellectual match. The film’s ending—specifically the absence of Party-loyal heroes—was controversial at the time. During the Cultural Revolution, "Early Spring" was denounced as a "poisonous weed."