Los Angeles Times by Manohla Dargis

For Tian, who was banned from directing by Chinese authorities for a decade, it marks a triumphant return; for those who have loved the filmmaker's work in the past, few resurrections have seemed as welcome.

Village Voice by J. Hoberman

Tian's movie seems to be among the finest expressions of the Chinese new wave.

L.A. Weekly by Scott Foundas

Simply put, it represents the work of a filmmaker so exhilaratingly in command of his craft that he can, among other things, turn a single image of two people standing next to each other -- fully clothed, their bodies not quite touching -- into one of the most sublimely erotic moments we have ever beheld on the screen.

Variety by David Stratton

Exquisitely made love story.

New York Post by V.A. Musetto

Can be summed up in one word: style.

Entertainment Weekly by Lisa Schwarzbaum

There's a painterly translucence to this ''Springtime,'' and a mystery, too; each frame is as delicately poised and lit as a Vermeer portrait of a woman, beckoning but unknowable.

The New York Times by Stephen Holden

As Mark Li Ping-bing's beautiful cinematography observes the change of season, the movie becomes a broader meditation on rebirth, and how, in the language of T. S. Eliot, April, the month that stirs such hopes for the future, is also "the cruellest month" for awakening such keen desire.

The A.V. Club by Scott Tobias

Has the suffocating intensity of great chamber drama.

TV Guide Magazine by Ken Fox

A beautiful, slow-motion melodrama.

The Hollywood Reporter

Should please art house buffs across the board. Connoisseurs of Chinese film will be pleased to discover that Tian's meticulous talent has not withered during his enforced hiatus. Moviegoers who like their visions of China rarefied and past tense will delight in the careful period setting.