Two high school students are accused of dating in 22-year old writer director Ning Yuanyuan’s debut…
An Insignificant Affair marks the filmmaking debut of Ning Yuanyuan, a fact made all the more impressive by the fact that the Chinese writer-director is only twenty-two years old. Despite her young age, Ning certainly has a solid cinematic pedigree, being the daughter of acclaimed director Zhang Yuan and screenwriter Ning Dai, and has acted in a number of films as a child, including her parents’ award-winning Little Red Flowers back in 2006. Ning also plays one of the lead roles in An Insignificant Affair, a romantic high school drama which was nominated for the People’s Choice Award at the 2019 Pingyao International Film Festival.
Set in 2008 in the small town of Taizhou in Jiangsu Province, the film begins with two high school students, He Xiaoshi (Dong Bowen) and Lin Xiaoyu (Ning Yuanyuan) being caught holding hands by the headteacher. Although Xiaoshi claims only to have been demonstrating palm reading to Xiaoyu, the two are accused of student dating, and he is punished by being made to write and recite a self-criticism to the class. Xiaoshi doesn’t take the situation seriously, and his self-criticism is half-hearted at best, and he avoids mentioning Xiaoyu by name. Threatened with their parents being told, the two are given the chance to write another criticism, and as they spend more time together, their feelings for each other start to grow.
All things considered, An Insignificant Affair really is a quite remarkable achievement for Ning Yuanyuan, and although it has its flaws, the film has a quiet maturity and authenticity. In terms of style, Ning’s approach is somewhat similar to that of her father’s more recent works, combining the commercial and the arthouse, with a few nods to documentary-like naturalism, and with a slow, measured pace. While the story is slight, spending most of its time simply following Xiaoshi and Xiaoyu as they try to navigate the situation and to understand their feelings, it generally rings true and the 2008 setting is thankfully never overused for cheap nostalgia. There’s a touch of the absurd to the actions of the school and the ongoing self-criticisms that Xiaoshi writes, and the film benefits from what might be a sly undercurrent of satire, giving viewers a layer of metaphor for viewers looking to read more deeply into things.
Ning also impresses through her own performance, and though for the most part the film focuses on Dong Bowen’s Xiaoshi, Xiaoyu is arguably the more interesting character, quiet, studious, and wise and mature beyond her years. Although the ‘student dating’ scandal might seem trivial to western audiences unfamiliar with the Chinese school system, and though Ning is never really able to make it the basis for any real tension or drama, it does provide an interesting backdrop to their relationship. In this respect, the film arguably works better as a coming of age tale than a romance, and as a character study about two young people on the verge of adulthood learning about responsibility and having to deal with the consequences of their actions. The film does have a few sweet moments scattered throughout, though Ning seems more interested in the bigger life picture than the kind of pure love story that might have been expected, and this helps to paper over the cracks left by some of the more schmaltzy scenes. While this, along with the direction the film takes during the final stretch might disappoint some viewers looking for a more traditional genre payoff, it makes up for in thoughtfulness what it perhaps lacks in emotional impact.
There’s more than enough here to suggest that Ning Yuanyuan is a talent worth keeping an eye on, and An Insignificant Affair is one of the better high school love dramas from China in recent years. While never particularly romantic or dramatic, and ultimately a bit lightweight, the film marks an accomplished debut for Ning as both writer and director, and is worth catching even for those who usually wouldn’t bother with the genre.