rdinislobo

If you are looking for a slice of life movie, look no further. A word of caution, however: this movie is a story, and a child of its time. There is no spectacular camera work, no epic soundtrack (or sound at all, for the most part), and certainly no special effects. Even the acting and dialogues are passable, at best. If you need any of these things to be immersed or even enjoy a movie, Spring in a Small Town is not for you.

There are four characters in the movie (and I mean four, there are no other supporting cast members or extras). The first two we are introduced are a couple, and they are "content". This is he best word to describe their situation, for they are not happy nor sad. You quickly realize that they have been frozen in time for years.

The conflict is created when an old friend (of both) comes back to town. This establishes the classic love triangle: the old friend has feelings for the wife, and she is torn between her own feelings towards him (or what she believes them to be) and those towards her husband.

There is little more to say about this movie without spoiling, except reiterate that this is a Chinese movie from the 40's. This is very much removed from the "factory assembled" plot lines that have plagued movies/books/video games/series for a long time.

If you were keeping track, the fourth character is the couple's caretaker, and he is a supporting character.

In the end, i still walk away with a lesson: no matter how much we think our life will stay the same, things will always happen. Whether they create change or not, is up to us.

In my opinion, this movie is disappointing. But, this does not make it a bad movie.

Having watched trailers, I created some expectation. The Asimov- esque premise had a lot of potential to create deep characters and interactions. These hopes for an enthralling storyline were dashed in the first half hour by almost every characters' clear lack of common sense. In the first half hour of movie this reached a point that it actually broke my immersion. I'm not sure why, I still kept hope for a good plot, but the movie just defaults to the "do what is right, protect the ones you love" cliché.

So, why watch this?

Because, despite its flaws, it has strengths. The character "Chappie" is very much different from what is today's cookie cutter protagonist. And even if the story is shallow, it feels complete, without any cliffhanger meant as hooks for a sequel or plot holes.

If you are looking for movies with AI, there are better ones out there (I, Robot and Ex Machina come to mind), but this movie is still a good bet when you want a cinematic "light snack".