[dir: Zhang Yibai; writer/prod: Liu Fendou, cinematographer: Zhao Xiaodong and Gao Fei, music: Zhang Yadong]
Cast: Geng Le, Xu Jinglei, Zhang Yang, Wang Ning, Fan Wei, Ke Lan, Gao Yuanyuan, Tu Qiang
Running Time: 93 min
Plot: Ruggedly handsome Geng Le (In the Heat of the Sun , Beijing Rocks), and currently hot mainland pop-idol Xu Jinglei (Spicy Love Soup) both do the best work yet of their young careers playing a twenty-something couple lost in the doldrums of a seven-year-old marriage that seems to be coming apart for no particular reason.
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Spring Subway takes its time. In fact, this is a film where time itself can almost be considered one of the main characters. Time erodes, as in the seven year itch that affects lovers Jianbin (the handsome Geng Le) and Xiaohui (pretty pop idol Xu Jinglei) as they reach a turning point in their lives. Time buffers, like when Jianbin loses his job and spends his days riding the subways rather than fessing up to Xiaohui about the loss. Time permeates, as she finds herself inescapably drawn into an affair with a customer of her design firm; a gentle man in every aspect, who moves through life at his own slower pace. And again we feel time as Jianbin discovers an infatuation for a teacher recuperating from an accident, and waits patiently with her day after day until her bandages can be removed.
Director Zhang Yibai uses time and the space around him (a contemporary and beautifully rendered Beijing) to show how love, passion, loyalty and friendship all ebb and flow over the years, sometimes without us even being aware of the subtle shifts and changes in and around us. Implicating real life, when each one of us has at least once imagined how a scenario, a meeting, a conversation, will turn out ? going through the dialog in our own heads, imagining the other?s reactions ? knowing full well that the truth will inevitably be very different, we are left to sit almost uncomfortably through the unspoken desires and anxieties of the characters. Peppered throughout the film are moments where time is stopped, or manipulated, to let us see their inner workings. When Jianbin finally decides to tell Xiaohui about losing his job, we are shown a scenario that is both comforting and disheartening. Once again we are forced to watch a moment play out that we know cannot be true, but nonetheless wish was so, if only for the benefit of the struggling Jianbin.
The film plays well with various cinematic styles. One moment you?re the casual observer, the invisible watcher from the camera?s eye; while the next moment you?re the direct object, being addressed and confided in. These techniques, wrapped up with sumptuous cinematography and a score of equal parts soulfulness and melancholy, add up to a very solid, engaging film from a Sixth Generation director who is proud to show us that life in Beijing is not much different than anywhere else. After all, time exists for everyone, even for couples like Jianbin and Xiaohui who find that forever is a relative term when dealing with love.
