Remake of Fei Mu's classic from 1948 about a three-sided relationship between a sensual woman, her morbid husband and her ex-fiancѓ. Balances perfectly between respect for the original and the desire to steer Chinese cinema in new directions.

"Yuwen lives in a war-damaged country house with her ailing husband Liyan. The somnolent household comes alive when Liyan's old friend Zhang Zhichen comes to visit from Shanghai, bringing both medical expertise and a taste of metropolitan style. The problem is that he and Yuwen were once engaged to be married... Tian uses a young cast and strengthens the drama by making it explicit that the husband's impotence is psychosomatic. His creative team is matchless: cinematographer Mark Lee In the Mood for Love and most Hou Hsiao-hsien movies) and Oscar-winning production designer Tim Yip (Crouching Tiger Hidden Dragon)."
Tony Rayns