''Eighteen Springs'' () is a 1997 romantic

drama Drama is the specific mode of fiction represented in performance: a play, opera, mime, ballet, etc., performed in a theatre, or on radio or television.Elam (1980, 98). Considered as a genre of poetry in general, the dramatic mode has been ...

directed by

Ann Hui Ann Hui On-wah, (; born 23 May 1947) is a film director, producer, screenwriter and actress from Hong Kong who is one of the most critically acclaimed filmmakers of the Hong Kong New Wave. She is known for her films about social issues in Hon ...

and starring

Jacklyn Wu Jacklyn Wu Chien-lien (born 3 July 1968) is a Taiwanese actress and singer who began her career in Hong Kong. She graduated from Taipei National University of Arts. Career In 1990, Wu's acting career began. For her first acting role, Johnn ...

Leon Lai Leon Lai Ming SBS BBS MH (born 11 December 1966), is a Hong Kong actor, film director, businessman and Cantopop singer. He is one of the " Four Heavenly Kings" of Hong Kong pop music. He uses his Chinese name "Li Ming" or "Lai Ming", whi ...

Anita Mui Anita Mui Yim-fong (; 10 October 1963 – 30 December 2003) was a Hong Kong singer and actress who made major contributions to the Cantopop music scene and received numerous awards and honours. She remained an idol throughout her career, and i ...

Huang Lei Huang Lei (Born December 6, 1971) is a Chinese actor, director, singer and screenwriter. He was born in Nanchang, Jiangxi, and now lives in Beijing. Huang ranked 58th on ''Forbes ''Forbes'' () is an American business magazine owned b ...

and

Ge You Ge You (born April 19, 1957) is a Chinese actor. A native of Beijing, often with a bald shaven pate, he is considered by many to be one of the most recognizable acting personalities in China. He became the first Asian actor to win the Cannes ...

. It is a

China China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. It is the world's most populous country, with a population exceeding 1.4 billion, slightly ahead of India. China spans the equivalent of five time zones and ...

Hong Kong Hong Kong ( (US) or (UK); , ), officially the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region of the People's Republic of China ( abbr. Hong Kong SAR or HKSAR), is a city and special administrative region of China on the eastern Pearl River Delt ...

co-production, based on the novel of the same name by

Eileen Chang Eileen Chang ( zh, t=張愛玲, s=张爱玲, first=t, w=Chang1 Ai4-ling2, p=Zhāng Àilíng；September 30, 1920 – September 8, 1995), also known as Chang Ai-ling or Zhang Ailing, or by her pen name Liang Jing (梁京), was a Chinese-born A ...

. The film depicts the ill-fated romance between two Chinese lovers in

Shanghai Shanghai (; , , Standard Mandarin pronunciation: ) is one of the four direct-administered municipalities of the People's Republic of China (PRC). The city is located on the southern estuary of the Yangtze River, with the Huangpu River flow ...

and

Nanjing Nanjing (; , Mandarin pronunciation: ), alternately romanized as Nanking, is the capital of Jiangsu province of the People's Republic of China. It is a sub-provincial city, a megacity, and the second largest city in the East China region. T ...

during the 1930s and 1940s, which destined them to be apart for more than a decade. The film marked the second time Hui directed an Eileen Chang adaptation (the first was 1984’s '' Love in a Fallen City'').

Title

The novel was originally serialized in Shanghai’s ''Yibao'' (亦报) in 1950–1951. Chang published a revised version in 1969 in

Taiwan Taiwan, officially the Republic of China (ROC), is a country in East Asia, at the junction of the East and South China Seas in the northwestern Pacific Ocean, with the People's Republic of China (PRC) to the northwest, Japan to the nort ...

, shortening the length of the lovers’ separation from 18 to 14 years and changing the title from 十八春 (''Eighteen Springs'') to 半生緣 (''The yuan (affinity) of half a lifetime''). Although the film's English title retains the original Chinese title, the Chinese title uses the revised title of the novel.

Plot

Gu Manzhen (Jacklyn Wu) is an educated girl, working in a Shanghai factory as a clerical assistant. Her elder sister Manlu (Anita Mui), who works as a nightclub hostess, supports her family. At the factory Manzhen meets two former male classmates, Xu Shuhui (

) and Shen Shijun (Leon Lai), and the three become firm friends. Manzhen falls in love with the introverted Shijun, who hails from a wealthy family in

and is working in Shanghai because he does not want to inherit his father’s merchandising business. Unable to marry the man she loves, Manlu decides to marry wealthy, decadent playboy Zhu Hongcai (Ge You). Meanwhile, Manzhen and Shijun encounter obstacles to their love. Shijun’s family (believing Manzhen’s sister works at a sordid occupation) opposes their relationship and tries to match him with a cousin, Shi Cuizhi (Annie Wu). Manzhen quarrels with Shijun, and the two part unhappily. Manlu is unable to bear children. To keep her husband, she arranges for Manzhen—visiting overnight—to be locked in their mansion and

rape Rape is a type of sexual assault usually involving sexual intercourse or other forms of sexual penetration carried out against a person without their consent. The act may be carried out by physical force, coercion, abuse of authority, or ag ...

d by Zhu (who is attracted to Manzhen). Manzhen becomes pregnant and is kept prisoner in Zhu’s mansion, unable to contact Shijun. When Shijun arrives to see Manzhen, Manlu sends him away thinking that Manzhen has rejected his love because of their social differences. Manzhen escapes from the hospital after giving birth to Zhu’s son, and becomes a schoolteacher in another town. By the time she writes to Shijun, he has married Cuizhi. Cuizhi and her mother-in-law burn Manzhen's letters to Shijun. Many years later, a desperately ill Manlu tracks down Manzhen to ask her forgiveness. Before she dies, she returns Manzhen's biological son (fathered by Zhu) in the hope that Manzhen will raise him. Manzhen still hates Zhu (who is remorseful for the rape), but decides to stay with him for the sake of their son. Fourteen years after their parting, Manzhen and Shijun meet again by chance at their favorite restaurant in Shanghai. The two catch up on each other's lives and realize hopelessly that no matter how much they still love each other, because of their other obligations they can never be together again. The film then flashes back to Shijun's search for Manzhen's missing red glove, which was when their romance began.

Cast

as Gu Manzhen (顾曼桢) *

as Shen Shijun (沈世钧) *

as Gu Manlu (顾曼璐) *

as Zhu Hongcai (祝鸿才) * Annie Wu as Shi Cuizhi (石翠芝) *

as Xu Shuhui (许叔惠) *

Wang Zhiwen Wang Zhiwen (, born June 25, 1966) is a Chinese actor born in Shanghai, China. He was selected by for his acting abilities at an early age and began to pursue a career in acting that has flourished in recent years, culminating in his role in Che ...

as Zhang Yujin (张豫瑾) *

Liu Changwei / ( or ) is an East Asian surname. pinyin: in Mandarin Chinese, in Cantonese. It is the family name of the Han dynasty emperors. The character originally meant 'kill', but is now used only as a surname. It is listed 252nd in the classic tex ...

as Fang Yipeng (方一鹏)

Critical reception

''Eighteen Springs'' was well received in Hong Kong. The film won Anita Mui the Best Supporting Actress award at the 17th Hong Kong Film Awards. Jacklyn Wu was nominated for Best Actress for her role as Manzhen. The film was also fairly well received (although distributed less) in the West. '' Time Out'' magazine compared ''Eighteen Springss "retrospective

voiceover Voice-over (also known as off-camera or off-stage commentary) is a production technique where a voice—that is not part of the narrative (non-diegetic)—is used in a radio, television production, filmmaking, theatre, or other presentations. ...

s" to

Wong Kar-wai Wong Kar-wai (born 17 July 1958) is a Hong Kong film director, screenwriter, and producer. His films are characterised by nonlinear narratives, atmospheric music, and vivid cinematography involving bold, saturated colours. A pivotal figure ...

’s, calling it "visually lush and beautifully layered" and likening it to "a lyrical, poignant souvenir". Critics singled out Jacklyn Wu's portrayal of Manzhen for praise. In a comprehensive review,

Shelly Kraicer Shelly or Shelli may refer to: Places * Shelly, Minnesota, a small city in the United States * Shelly, Richland Township, Bucks County, Pennsylvania, United States * Shelly Township, Norman County, Minnesota * Shelly Park, a suburb in Auckl ...

compared Lai's performance to Wu’s and found him wanting: He praised Wu: Other reviews of ''Eighteen Springs'' focused on Hui’s extensive use of

s.Pak Tong Cheuk (2000). ''Hong Kong New Wave Cinema (1978-2000)'', p77.

Awards

''Eighteen Springs'' won

a Best Supporting Actress award at the 17th Hong Kong Film Awards. It was nominated in six other categories: ` *Best Actress (Jacklyn Wu) *Best Cinematography (Lee Ping-Bin) *Best Art Direction (Tsui Fung-Nyn, Wong Yan-Kwai) *Best Costume Design (Miu Gwan-Git) *Best Original Score (Yip Siu-Gong) *Best Original Song ("Eighteen Springs", performed by Leon Lai) Wu received the Best Actress award at the fourth annual

Hong Kong Film Critics Society Awards The Hong Kong Film Critics Society Awards () are the annual awards given by the Hong Kong Film Critics Society in Hong Kong since 1994. The awards are determined by votes cast in three rounds after a substantial discussion session between the mem ...

for her role in the film.

Notes

External links

* *
''Eighteen Springs''
at the Chinese Movie Database

1997 films 1990s Mandarin-language films Films directed by Ann Hui Films set in Shanghai Films based on Chinese novels Films based on works by Eileen Chang Chinese romantic drama films Films about rape {{Eileen Chang