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It was an almost perfect Friday evening. The sun was setting behind the huge tree fronting the National Museum, dissipating the last rays of the day, setting the mood for a love story that beau and I would watch in twenty minutes. With a bag of bread and mineral water in hand, I strolled to the concrete bench next to the car park. It was quiet, the serenity broken only by two teenagers on roller blades and a couple taking provocative photos some distance away. At that moment I recalled photographer friends telling me evenings are the worst for taking photos. Perhaps the guy had something else on his agenda. The girl was sitting on the ledge above him, legs parted, beaming down at him.

I munched on the green tea cupcake, taking in the subtle scent, smiling to myself. Life is but this- waiting expectantly for your loved one, eating while waiting, going to a film in fifteen minutes and being a voyeur all in the same breathe. Then he came, crossing the road from YMCA, totally unprepared for such an arty film. Most guys divide arty from blockbusters by the speed of the movie. My guy included.

One summer with you is definately not the latter.

A beautiful slow moving film shown as part of the ‘Youth in Chinese films after 49′ oeuvre to celebrate firstly asian cinema, chinese cinema and the unique flavour of a communist society that makes wonderfully charged movies, so prolifically too. I chose this particular film because (1) i have never watched a film in a museum with a curator and the director there with an opening speech (2) it is a Friday and fridays are best for him (3) this is a love story, we should still ‘date’ despite being married for this many years.

The Introduction:

The director apologised profusely in Mandarin (and the curator translated it aptly) as tickets were still being sold at the appointed time.

He went on to stress that entrance examinations are very  important esp for rural folks who wish to seek a betterment in life in big cities like Beijing, thus central to understanding his movie. In fact this is almost the only way ‘to get out’ of poverty and the monotony of a rural existence. This is the setting for his story, of a female scholar in Guizhou and her crush, an expelled classmate turned postman in the 80s.

The movie:

The disparity of their fate was made increasingly clear with the unfolding of the film. While he is contented to join the profession of his father, she is bent on leaving the small town to study in Beijing. As their affections grew, he tried to hold on to her by holding on to her admission letter from the university. (easy for him since he is the postman)

With one selfish act their love blossomed.

Beautiful their love may be for the other but it is also held together by a lie. Perhaps love as transient as this is rendered more precious cos it cant possibly come to a good end.

I recall another movie by the name of ‘recycle’. Recycle is a place where all things old, forgotten, abandoned, aborted, destroyed ended up in. This pictureque little town ruined by urbanisation which also moved on after leaving behind old ugly buildings with gapping holes in the wall is such a place. We know in our hearts that she will leave, while he cannot. He will be a memory she will recollect from time to time, associated with the discarded place. While he is destined to remain in such a place, embracing its non competitvenss, its small community, and always he will be condemned to love her, the girl who went away. Love is such, as life is such. And we are suckers for such tragic, star crossed plots. Mellow but powerful, and totally unforgettable.

Director: Ding Wei