Chinese Film Night

He ni zai yi qi/Together with You. Dir. Chen Kaige, 2003. China. In Mandarin with English Subtitles. 118 min.

In Beijing, Xiaochun's father convinces down-at-heel professor Jiang (Wang Zhiwen) to take his son under his wing. Jiang, a heartbroken recluse who lives in a hovel surrounded by stray cats, teaches Xiaochun to play [the violin] with his heart. But when Xiaochun moves on to his next teacher, Professor Yu (played by Kaige himself), things prove rather different. An urban teacher with an eye on financial success, Yu is more interested in fame and fortune than consummate musicianship. Which route should Xiaochun take? Held together by a richly eclectic score that sets Debussy and Strauss against traditional Chinese folk music and some compositions by the director, this unashamedly sentimental film plucks the heartstrings until they're all aquiver. [….] Undoubtedly a bold departure for Kaige - who made his name on grand historical epics such as Farewell My Concubine and Temptress Moon - this is slick, professional but unremittingly safe filmmaking that tick-tocks from scene to scene with the clockwork precision of a metronome. More populist than classical, Together With You is destined to be a crowd-pleasing drama. [….] (Jamie Russell www.bbc.co.uk)

 

21 March, 7:30pm, Kingston Hall 200