Drummy

Stunning sense of style

A Winter Sun Wakes the Wind in Spring Hill's Dream is one of the best in this genre.
The director’s approach to sound, cinematography, and the decision to avoid dubbing, combined with the use of online messaging as part of the characters’ digital lives, is simply outstanding, in my view.

The main characters feel fully realized and consistent. The second couple (Qi HaoYu & Han Lu) comes across as a kind of echo of QingLang’s life, as if Shi YuHao had responded to Qinglang’s feelings many years ago.

As for WenShu and QingTian’s relationship, I disagree with how their story written in the script. Given their personalities, everything between them should have felt magical.

It seems to me that a lot things and detailes only becomes clear through hints after a second or third viewing. I suppose the main love story needed a counterbalance in the other characters’ arcs (without spoilers!), otherwise it would have turned out overly saccharine.

I’ve read other viewers’ comments. It doesn’t surprise me that ChangYang spent several years making his way to meet QingLang, that QingLang could wait for ChangYang in “their” mountains for so many years, or that WenShu waited for QingTian for all that time.

The screenplay perhaps feels a bit rushed, but these characters make you want to keep living in their world and hope that everything will turn out well for everyone.

Contrary to the prevailing opinion, I saw Yu ShiHao as a tragic character. He was unlucky enough never to meet his own ChangYang; he drowned in his loneliness and his online life, never finding anyone he truly wanted to live for.

I’m in awe of what Lizzy-Zelia has created: the way Kuma and Jing Yu don’t just play their roles but truly live in them, and the cinematographer’s stunning sense of composition.
Thank you for this masterpiece!

Read More