Sheng Ji yi Shi de Ai Qing

Poor Shu Qiao. Two men and neither of them any good.

It opens with a scene from the 50s. The woman wakes up to prepare a hearty breakfast for her man. She always runs after him, to bring him stuff, to put on his coat. I thought to myself this is the perfect housewife trope right? Then it transpires the poor woman is also a college professor. Go figure. Is this how they do it in China? I don't care how much money you make, if we both work you can make your own damn breakfast. But yeah, I hear this is how they do it in East Asia. Grrrr!!!

Anyway, the age-old question that women have been plagued with. Do we choose financial stability or passion and excitement? Apparently we can't have both. They've been lying to us. Women can't have it all.

A businessman who no longer even desires you and sees sex as a chore. He gets upset he had to do it when you weren't even in your fertile period. Good grief run the hell away gurl! But not to that guy. That one is just as bad, only in an entirely different way. He sure gave her enough red flags. I have heard manic pixie dream boy thrown about. That tracks. Those are never real. They're an illusion.

Shu Qiao has some painful growing up to do. I hope she can make it out the other side.

Li Ran's only feature film so far, by no means anything revolutionary, only as a woman I really felt this. I would never put myself in this position but I felt her pain.