Film Forum

China/France, 2009
Directed by Lou Ye
Starring Qin Hao, Chen Sicheng, Tan Zhuo
In Mandarin with English subtitles
Approx. 116 min. Digital. 

“Loosely inspired by the risqué writings of early-20th-century maverick Yu Dafu… We are introduced to two men, travel agent Jiang Cheng (Qin Hao) and bookish Wang Ping (Wu Wei), embroiled in a passionate love affair...Shot surreptitiously in the eastern city of Nanjing with available light, SPRING FEVER is a deliriously erotic and anguished melodrama, where frenetic street scenes alternate with murky interiors in a dreamlike weave of events and locations, all bathed in cool dark tones. As always with the libidinal undercurrents of Lou’s films, sexuality is the measure and reflection of individual freedom, the lovers’ existential malaise representing social life under severe constraints.” – Damon Smith, Filmmaker Magazine

Reviews

“Chinese cinema has offered its fair share of anguished material over the years, but what sets Lou apart from his Sixth Generation peers is his unwavering commitment to personal, subjective experience…Chinese melodrama has tended to depict romances that entail painful compromise or self-denial, Lou consistently envisions love as an all-consuming, destructive force to which his characters have no choice but to submit.”
– Andrew Chan, Film Comment

“Lou Ye is a poet of the flesh, and his new film is another woozy ode to longing…a fetching audio-visual brew invigorated to fiercely spontaneous performances.”
– Ed Gonzalez, Slant Magazine