I absolutely love this movie.

I first saw this movie a few years ago and thought it was very sweet the way it wore its proverbial heart on its sleeve, but I would have to say that the nuances of the love story kind of eluded me. If anything, Zhao Di seemed to be grossly overreacting to what seemed like her very randomly determined feelings for Luo, even bordering on weird obsessiveness, given how little screen time they actually seemed to share together.

On a recent second viewing, however, I couldn't take my eyes off this movie.

I've realized what it is that I love to much about Zhang Yimou's smaller character pieces such as this... it's his tendency to set them in fairly remote locations with very simple ways of life. All the details and distractions that clutter modern life for most of us are almost totally absent, allowing him to put a laser focus onto his characters, their emotions, and the life journeys they undertake. If only Western movies were this concerned with their characters!

I have seen other comments on this board about how there aren't a lot of meaningful exchanges between Di and Luo to sell the audience on their feelings for each other. Having now watched this movie a second time, I have to disagree. This movie reflects another time, and another place; where arranged marriages are still the norm and open expressions of romantic attachment are not. The glances and smiles shared between them early on show us that they share a strong attraction. Di's attempts to get Luo's attention by using the same bowl every time she cooks for him, or by trekking to the far side of the village to get water just so she can walk past his school, are easily the kinds of small things any of us might do for an opportunity to get a bit closer to the object of our affections. That Luo also tries to take advantage of these opportunities (though he's always thwarted) only demonstrate that he feels the same. The hairpin that he gives Di may seem small and trivial to us, but look at the way her face lights up when she receives it... it's the most wonderful thing to receive a gift from this man; a true indication that she's been in his thoughts, and that he likes her. This small gift means the world to her, especially in this poor village where smallness and simplicity are the norm, and she's utterly beside herself when she loses it. Sometimes the smallest gestures are the sweetest ones of all.

As Luo is taken away from town but hears word of the devoted and incredibly patient ways in which Di is waiting for him to return (even driving herself to terrible illness), he knows they're in love, and that he must return to her. When Di goes to fix up his school in his absence, it's a clear sign to the rest of the village that these two people have fallen in love all on their own, no arrangement required, and everyone roots for them to be together. Their story captures everyone's hearts, and becomes legendary within their little village.

It's simple and understated, yes, but that's the beauty of it. Modern relationships are complicated almost beyond hope with all the various issues we must deal with. Here is a movie that shows the simple foundations that love is supposed to be based on, and it's all the truer for it. I found this movie to be an almost unbearably sweet illustration of true love, and an ode to the simpler things we should all focus on in pursuit of our own relationships.

If you watch this movie from the point of view that's intended, I think it's all the more potent to behold. The conclusion was as powerful as anything I've ever seen, and I sobbed uncontrollably right through the credits. And that score... that perfect, beautiful score! Such a wonderful movie. It's so underrated and relatively unknown, and deserves so much better.