A Withered Tree Meets Spring

Overview

A critical hit during one of China’s most politically charged periods, Zheng’s follow-up to his 1959 anniversary epics merged Soviet-style socialist realism with his own breakthroughs in film technique, specifically his use of continuous camera movement in the spirit of traditional Chinese scrolls. Tractor-kino at its finest, the film revolves around two rural lovers—one struck with a deadly disease—and their eventual survival thanks to socialist medical advances.

Cast

You Jia

Zhihua Hu

Shangguan Yunzhu

Qianli Qian

Hongsheng Liu

Jiang Tianliu

Shiming Zhi

Wu Yunfang

Siqing Hu

Xinghuo Zhong