Great acting from the cast, in particular, from the leads, in which this film was their acting debut. Shawn Dou was great as the hunky lead male (great smile!) and Zhou Dongyu was lovely as the naive lead female. My only gripe: the male lead character seemed to be a bit too perfect and angelic and it would have been nice to have some more dimension to his character.
Even though the film is set during the end of the Cultural Revolution, there isn't too much emphasis on politics. This is a pure love story at its best with the interactions between the main characters at the forefront.
The film also has amazing cinematography. The color palette isn't striking but there is a nice contrast between the village and the city landscapes.
Recommended for those who enjoy those simple and pure love stories.
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- pure, simple love story that is just so beautiful
- lots of feels, so many feels, watch for all the feels.
Easy to follow, beautiful, heartbreaking love story. Shawn Dou is also cute. Watch it, and if you read the book let me know how it compares!
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One of my fav movies!
Okay, so this is a Zhang Yimou film so you should already have high expectations and this one absolutely delivered! The main leads' love story is so sweet and tragic. I cried so much it was insane. When she realizes he does really care for her because they spent the night together and when she didn't want to have sex he was perfectly content with just holding her in his arms.One of the things I wanted to touch on is Zhou Dongyu's acting. I first saw her in Sparrow 麻雀 and honestly I felt her character was so whiney and the fake crying was just really bad. I think this is where having a good director and a good script really pulls its weight. Her acting was so good and when she cried it was really believable.
I will leave it at that because you should really watch it for yourself!
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A movie that released 14 years ago, yet the sentiment lives on like the fresh blooming of a hawthorn flower. My nature has scarce attachments to true-story films, but I stumbled upon this film out of boredom. I wanted to feel something, something new. A few things bothered me at first: there was barely any background music, the lighting was dark, and the slow pacing inclined my impatience to check the timestamps every 10 minutes. These impressions all dispersed in an instant by the hands of the plot's historical and emotional insightfulness. Sun and Jing's love story gave us a glimpse at life during China's cultural revolution movement. I harbored little memory of it from my history course, but my eyes have truly been opened to just how scant their freedom was. Having an opinion could put you in jail or under probation. One wrong move, thinking of a future is the last thing people think of. Everyone sacrifices a bit of their humaneness just to see a tomorrow. But ironically, humans will still yearn ways to stay human. I was at the edge of seat watching Jing and Sun's love story unfold. My heart especially goes for two scenes. First, the scene where Sun cuts his arm so Jing could receive medical care on her foot. The show initially displayed wholesome interactions between the two, so imagine my surprise when I watched this guy start to bleed quite a lot just for a girl he had met recently. Secondly, the ending. Sun dies of leukemia. I cannot tell you how tearjerking this was. He stuck a photo they took together previously up on the ceiling before his last breaths. His body was pale and inhumane, yet he shed his last tear after hearing Jing's voice. It was an ending I never expected, but still realistic considering the medical knowledge they had back then. One last note: I really admired the touch of characterism they gave for Sun's mother. How before she ended her own life, she wanted die looking pretty. It meant his mother cared about her reputation, but I guess it was just too unbearable at some point. Overall, I think all walks of life should watch Under the Hawthorn Tree once in their life. It reminds us of our roots. Even if you may not share the culture, the message remains universal: to realise gratitude for the freedom we swim in everyday, which was unfortunately something Sun and Jing never had. Was this review helpful to you?
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A Love That Gently Breaks You: Under the Hawthorn Tree
Watching Under the Hawthorn Tree was a deeply moving experience. The performances by Zhou Dongyu and Shawn Dou were absolutely phenomenal — there’s nothing to criticize. Their appearances suited the characters so perfectly. Shawn Dou especially stood out with his warm, honest smile and bright, youthful eyes — he embodied the kind-hearted, genuine boy that Sun Jianxin was meant to be. His presence was both beautiful and quietly powerful.The cinematography and direction were simple, but that simplicity worked in the film’s favor. The framing, the stillness, the restrained camera — everything felt intimate and sincere. The director did a brilliant job bringing subtle emotions to life.
This is the only Chinese romance film that has made me cry this much — and not just quietly tearing up, but sobbing. The scene where Jing Qiu and Sun lie together in bed, talking softly, was unforgettable. Sun tells Jing Qiu that one day she’ll have a child, she’ll be a mother, a grandmother. Jing Qiu asks, “What about you?” and he says, “If you live well, then I live well too.” That broke me. I cried. And when the final scenes came, I couldn’t hold it back anymore — I cried out loud.
Their love story was “just enough” — never overdone, never exaggerated. It felt real. It was tender, grounded, and delicately portrayed. I especially loved how Sun loved Jing Qiu — in every little way. How he couldn’t help but sneak out with her behind her mother’s back. And then, when Jing Qiu finally tells him she’s thought it through, that she’s ready to do whatever he wants — Sun, like any man deeply in love, of course wants to take that step. And it was one of the rare moments of raw honesty that Chinese romance films don’t often portray — that desire rooted in love. But then… he sees she’s not quite ready, and he stops. He respects her. That moment felt so human, so gentle, and so powerful.
Sun’s love for Jing Qiu was quiet, careful, respectful, and utterly genuine. Even in his final days, he gazes at the photo of them that he’d taped to the hospital wall — clinging to that last thread of love.
Sun passed away. And Jing Qiu would go on with her life. Life must go on. No matter how beautiful or tragic a love story is, it too will sink into the river — just like the hawthorn tree, and the land where they first met.
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