Xiaochun is a shy and sensitive 13-year-old boy, an extremely talented violinist who lives with his father in a small, provincial city, far from the glitter of Beijing. Music is his only way of communicating – of expressing those feelings that seem to belong to the musician mother he has never known, and to a feminine world he has never really encountered. However, it is a male world of fame and success that demands his talent be captured and developed into the estimable career of a professional violin player. After moving to the capital for an audition to enter a prestigious music school, Xiaochun begins a different life. He meets new teachers and discovers true friendship, falls in love for the first time and experiences his first heartbreak – and comes to understand the true meaning of music, even as he stumbles on the tricks of power. TOGETHER is a wonderful story, abetted by Chen’s classical, impeccably composed images and an unusual emotional presence born of each moment of narration. This is an intimate drama that dovetails with a larger-scale meditation on the powerful changes underway in Chinese society, where power and money-making may no longer have a priority over the importance of true human relationships.
35mm, 116 minutes, Narrative Feature Film