The characters’ generational angst humanizes the film’s view of a nation at a crossroads.
Fei Mu’s 1948 classic, which is a faithful rendition of a short story by Li Tianji, subtly places itself in the context of literary tradition.
There’s little sense here of a journey reaching culmination, experience left visibly in its wake.
The film’s landscapes evoke the demystifying horrors of the war.