Tuan yuan

This one hooked me within minutes. Great storytelling using a simple premise. A man returns to Shanghai to see his wife and family after being forced to live in Taiwan for many years for political reasons.

It's amazing what you can do with basic storytelling fundamentals. Conflict, well rounded characters and heart. I wonder why Hollywood can't make films like this.

Anyways, the performances are wonderful from the entire cast, particularly the three leads. There is plenty of drama and some lovely warm and comic touches to lighten things up. I don't know a great deal about the history between China and Taiwan but this didn't effect my enjoyment or understanding of the story.

It made me think of my own family and past loves, etc. What good cinema is supposed to do.

The story is an old one, about the endurance of love. The grandmother who is torn between two people who love her and her heart is broken by the tug between her two lovers. Her performance was magnificent, is was that of her common-law-husband. He too is torn apart by his desire to have his wife and to have his wife be happy without him. The casting of the supporting actors was also great. I got so involved with the grandmother character that I cried a number of times when she was faced with a decision that nobody should ever face in their life time. The director weaved into the fabric of the story a fair amount of humor. Otherwise, the movie would have been depressing. However, with the humor, it became reality.