On a wintry night in 1940s China, a writer gets a letter from an unnamed woman who has just lost her son. He doesn't remember her. They've met three times in their lives, and every time he doesn't remember her, so unimportant she is to him. Now after their son's death, she is about to commit suicide but not before she tells him her story. With her voice-over narrating the contents, she describes their first meeting, their ill-fated affair, and the son borne from it.
We get a flashback to the 1930s when the couple first meets. She's a girl about 13-14 who's fascinated by the famous writer who has decided to take the apartment across from hers. Although they've never spoken to each other, she develops a crush and falls headlong in love with him. To her dismay, though, she finds out that she will have to move to another city and cannot see him anymore. The director accurately captures the boredom and ordinariness of the girl's life before the dashing writer comes into it. Once the writer appears, though, the film deflates a little. For me the actor cast as the writer doesn't seem to physically represent what is expected of the character. Instead of handsome, he's genially middle-aged. It was hard to imagine that a thirteen year old girl would take one look at him and fall head-over-heels in love. He's apparently a well-respected actor in China so maybe Chinese audiences will understand the appeal, but as a viewer who has never heard of him I was stumped.
The second time they meet is about 6 years later. The girl has returned to Beijing for college. The character is now played by actress Xu Jinglei (who's also the director). She rents an apartment near the writer's to be closer to him. To her excitement, he takes a liking to her and they begin an affair. He doesn't recognize her at all since she's grown up and she doesn't tell him they've met before. She thinks this is love only to be heartbroken when he breaks it off abruptly.
She takes it surprisingly well though. Pregnant with his child, she's not angry with him. Doesn't even bother him for child support. Instead she raises the child on her own, while working as an escort. They meet again for a third time several years later. But he still doesn't recognize her, even though he gets a feeling of deja vu. Still she doesn't tell him.
Now this is where the film may lose viewers, it's hard to imagine a man so forgetful or prolifically promiscuous that he doesn't realize he has already slept with that woman. And it may be hard for modern audiences to accept a woman who effaces herself so willingly to that man. The film with its tragic story, period setting, and span of several years seems to aspire to be an old-fashioned melodrama, yet the directing and acting style is understated. The feature ends up coming off rather anemic. Although it's a sad story, both the writer and the unknown woman get no characterization so it's hard to summon up much emotion for them.
Xu Jinglei as the unknown woman is quite good, especially at the end. This is her directing debut and it's ably made, even if there isn't any excitement to be had. Die-hard romantics may like this film, but I don't think it's worth looking at otherwise.
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