OPENS JUNE 13, CERT PG, 116 MINS

Film and politics are so inextricably linked in China that Tian Zhuangzhuang’s decision to remake the 1948 classic Spring In A Small Town is itself a political act. The original’s director, Fei Mu, was dismissed as right wing by the communists after his death. In adding to Mu’s posthumous rehabilitation, Zhuangzhuang thumbs his nose at the authorities under the cloak of homage.

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A shame the result couldn’t be more compelling. For while there’s much to admire in this elegant tale of a m