"Apart Together" (團圓)

Apart Together [File photo]

For a director who directed "Tuya's Marriage," Wang Quan'an's "Apart Together" is already a breakthrough. This film is more like a recording of Shanghai's normal daily ongoings, rather than conveying the wild realism shown in his previous work. The film talks about a newly-married Shanghai couple who were separated in 1949 due to the political upheavals of the time.

This film is political. In the family drama, one woman has two husbands, one represents mainland government, the other is the old time love who represents the status quo of Taiwan. Qiao Yu'e not only has to choose between ideal love and an upsetting reality, but also has to show her attitude towards different political courses. "Apart Together" is Chinese-style connotative and nostalgic, but it also possesses raging sorrow and elegance. Veteran actor Xu Caigen, who stars as the mainland husband, gives the best performance of the film by far.

This film won a Silver Bear award for Best Screenplay for Wang Quan'an at the 2010 Berlin International Film Festival. For whatever reason it did not screen in China until 2013 -- "without any cuts or revisions" explains the filmmaker -- but it still failed to garner any significant box-office return.