Chinese director Zhang Yimou returns to basics for this low-budget, lyrical love story of almost pastoral simplicity that takes place in a mountainous village to which a city-dwelling son returns upon the death of his father. As the son attempts to accommodate his mother's request for a logistically difficult ceremony, he reflects upon the story of his parents' courtship, moving the film from the midwinter bleak of black and white to an extended flashback shot through with the rich colours of spring.
Alongside the delicate, delightful slow dance of young love, Zhang weaves themes of community and craft in decline, while the haunting soundtrack plays like an Asian reworking of James Horner's Titanic in the background. Small, but perfectly formed, this is a rare treat.