SPRINGTIME IN A SMALL TOWN

[ 1/2] (three and one-half stars)

Stylish love triangle. In Mandarin, with English subtitles. Running time: 116 minutes. Not rated (mature subject matter). At the Cinema Village and the Lincoln Plaza.

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‘SPRINGTIME in a Small Town” can be summed up in one word: style.

Respected director Tian Zhuangzhuang’s first film since “The Blue Kite” in 1993 is a gorgeous love story set in a battle-scarred house in China in the spring following the end of World War II.

The house is occupied by beautiful Yuwen (Hu Jingfan); her ailing husband, Liyan (Wu Jun); his impossibly perky schoolgirl sister (Lu Sisi); and the elderly family retainer (Xe Xiaokeng).

“My health’s a mess,” complains Liyan – and indeed it is.

He mopes about the house with a variety of vague symptoms that keep him from fulfilling his husbandly duties. (Ah, for some Viagra.)

His frustrated wife, meanwhile, spends her days in her room, crying and doing that old standby, needlepoint.

The depression lifts with the unexpected arrival of Zhang (Xin Baiqing), a dashing doctor from Shanghai.

The two men were schoolmates 10 years earlier. More important, Zhang and Yuwen were once sweethearts who discover they’re still attracted to each other.

“Springtime,” based on a 1948 Chinese film, is set almost entirely in the family’s country home, with just four characters. But it never feels claustrophobic.

Credit Tian’s masterly direction, backed by beautiful cinematography – lots of long takes and wide shots – by Mark Lee, who has worked with Wong Kar-wai, Ang Lee and Hou Hsiao-hsien.

The superb costume and image design, by Tim Yip, puts the finishing touch on this sumptuous work.