Spring in a Small Town is a 1948 black-and-white Chinese film, written by Li Tianji () and directed by Fei Mu, a director known for his empathetic portrayal of women. It was produced and funded by Wenhua Film Company, whose great financial deficit at the time led it to produce Spring in a Small Town on a low budget with a minimalist plot and setting. The film cast only five characters, and it focuses on the struggles of a husband and wife, and the ensuing turmoil when Zhang Zhichen, Liyan's former classmate and, ironically, Yuwen's former lover, pays an unplanned visit to the residence.
The original print of the film is now kept in the China Film Archive. In 2005, at the Hong Kong Film Awards to mark a century of Chinese films, Spring in a Small Town was voted the best Chinese film ever made.
Plot
The film takes place in a ruined family compound in a small town in the Jiangnan region after the Sino-Japanese War, and it tells the story of the once-prosperous Dai family. The film opens with Yuwen (Wei Wei) walking alone along the ruins of the city wall, narrating the slow-paced, circular nature of her life. Her husband Liyan (Shi Yu) is ill and wallows in the miserable reality of his family's loss. Due to his illness and depression, his marriage to Yuwen has long been loveless, though both remain dutiful spouses to each other. Liyan spends his days in the courtyard expressing nostalgia for a better time. Meanwhile, Liyan's young teenage sister Xiu (Zhang Hongmei), too young to remember the past, stays cheerful and playful in the ruins of their home. Lao Huang (Cui Chaoming) is an old servant of the Dai family who faithfully remains with the family.
The Dai family still manages to live in an uneventful peace, but this is suddenly challenged by an unexpected visit from Liyan's childhood friend Zhang Zhichen (Li Wei), a doctor from Shanghai who previously had a relationship with Yuwen. Yuwen is conflicted between her love for Zhichen and her loyalty to her husband. During Zhichen's first evening at the home, Yuwen rekindles their love, visiting him and sending him some bedding and a thermos to show her concern. The next day, Liyan, Yuwen, Zhichen, and Xiu spend the day together walking and boating.
Liyan and Zhichen talk later in the day and Liyan expresses love for his wife but feels unworthy of her. Liyan suggests that things would be better if Yuwen married Zhichen, making Zhichen feel guilty. Xiu, having just turned sixteen years old, develops romantic feelings for Zhichen, who himself is conflicted between his love for Yuwen and his loyalty to Liyan. As the film progresses, Liyan and Xiu begin to suspect that Zhichen and Yuwen have strong feelings for one another.
One night, Zhichen, Liyan, Yuwen, and Xiu drink and play games together. Liyan notices happiness in Yuwen that he has not seen in a while, but it is only because of her interaction with Zhichen. In a conversation with Yuwen shortly after, Liyan expresses his shame for being an inadequate husband, and he wishes out loud that Yuwen had married Zhichen instead. As Yuwen and Zhichen struggle between overcoming or succumbing to their passion for each other, Liyan attempts suicide by taking an overdose of sleeping pills. Old Huang finds Liyan passed out on his bed, and gathers everyone else. Liyan survives, but the attempted suicide convinces Zhichen to leave and Yuwen to stay in the relationship with her husband. In the final sequence of the film, Dai Xiu and Old Huang walk Zhichen to the train station, while Yuwen is on the wall with Liyan and points into the horizon.