After more than a decade in artistic exile, China's Tian Zhuangzhuang has resurfaced with a veritable vengeance, delivering what may well be the crowning achievement of his storied, turbulent career with "Springtime in a Small Town." A heartfelt elegy to the essential, humanistic soul of the Chinese people, "Springtime" demonstrates that, contrary to Tian's own assertions, his skills have not diminished but rather augmented, evidencing a more acute command of the medium than was ever evident in even his most famous earlier works, "The Blue Kite" and "Horse Thief."

It's 1946, less than a year after the defeat of the Japanese, and the Dai household is struggling to piece itself back together. It is not the ruins of their town or partially-bombed family home that most afflicts them, but the tatters of an eight-year marriage. Dai Liyan (Wu Jun) is only 30, but struggles with a debilitating respiratory illness that may be at least partially psychosomatic. His wife, Yuwen (Hu Jingfan), respectfully tolerates his outbursts and dreary attitude, masking her seething resentment with passive condescension. But with the sudden arrival of an old friend, things begin to change. Once a classmate of Liyan's, Zhang Zhichen (Xin Baiqing) is now a successful physician and, in Liyan's eyes, a welcome houseguest, as much for his sunny disposition as for his medical skills. The twist here is that Zhichen and Yuwen have a history as well, making their unanticipated reunion seem both fateful and fated. Onetime lovers, they paint their prior relationship as one of simple childhood friendship for Liyan's sake, but in their inevitable moments together are unable to so easily camouflage feelings and frustrations that still linger. That one man's true and chosen love should become his friend's wife through an arranged and loveless marriage would be a cruel enough twist of fate if not for the even crueler timing. Having weathered the long, hard years of the war (which lasted longer for China than for nearly any other country), only now will they begin to appreciate what they really lost.

Stylistically and thematically, there's little here to suggest continuity with the restlessness of Tian's previous work. Apart from the almost obsessive attention to detail and technique, this is a kinder, gentler film than that with which he has historically preoccupied himself, simple and sublime almost to the point of theatricality. Though most of the scenes are shot in single, continuous takes, audiences are unlikely to notice, so fluidly has Tian staged his camera and actors. One scene in particular, celebrating the birthday of Liyan's sister Xiu (Lu Sisi), is nothing short of masterful, both for its emotional impact and the sheer brilliance of its execution.

By conventional Hollywood definitions, this would be considered a classic melodrama, seeming to suggest that Tian had softened, no longer the defiant, fiercely political filmmaker who earned the wrath of government authorities for his unauthorized Tibetan shoot of "Horse Thief," later suffering an outright 10-year blacklisting for the harshly anti-communist tone of "The Blue Kite." A closer examination, however, proves quite the contrary--that not only is Tian as defiant and political as ever, but is now even wilier and more accomplished at infusing his films with those sensibilities.

This is not the first time that "Springtime in a Small Town" has been filmed; based on a short story by Li Tianji, it was previously adapted to the screen in 1948 by the famed Fei Mu, whose condemnation by the communists and later "rediscovery" and embrace by the post-Cultural Revolution generation more than partially mirrors Tian's own ordeal. Whether or not Tian means to draw this parallel, one can only speculate. What is less opaque is his nostalgia for the immediate postwar period that fostered the original story and earlier film--a time he depicts as open and honest, less ideological and more attentive to the most fundamental human qualities of the Chinese people. Like the peaceful Tibetans of "Horse Thief" and the free-spirited Mongolian nomads of "On the Hunting Ground," the inhabitants of "Springtime in a Small Town" exist in a political vacuum free from bureaucratic oversight and intrusion. Like Tian himself, they have their problems, but seek neither society's sympathy nor the state's relief, living life--warts and all--to its fullest.

Along with friends and former classmates Chen Kaige and Zhang Yimou, Tian Zhuangzhuang is considered one of the three pillars of the Fifth Generation that revived Chinese cinema in the 1980s. Though all three have suffered for their art since that time, there's little question that Tian's share of the suffering has been disproportionate. Fortunately, for lovers of great cinema everywhere, he's fast making up for lost time. Starring Hu Jingfan, Wu Jun, Xin Baiqing, Lu Sisi and Ye Xiaokeng. Directed by Tian Zhuangzhuang. Written by Ah Cheng. Produced by Li Xiaowan, Bill Kong and Tang Yatming. A Palm release. Period drama. Mandarin-language; subtitled. Rated PG for some thematic elements. Running time: 115 min