Review | Before Next Spring movie review: lives of Chinese expats in Japan portrayed in keenly observed drama by first-time director Li Gen

Before Next Spring revolves around the struggles of a group of Chinese expatriates in the Tokyo suburbs, most of whom work at a popular restaurant

While the film is authentic in its observations of Japanese daily life, there isn’t always sufficient justification for the discontent the characters feel

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Xie Chengze in a still from Before Next Spring (category IIA, Mandarin), directed by Li Gen. Qi Xi co-stars.

Published: 5:15am, 1 Jun 2022

3/5 stars

First-time writer-director Li Gen draws from his own experiences as a foreign exchange student studying in Japan for Before Next Spring, a well-intentioned (if somewhat lightweight) tale of Chinese expatriates living in the Tokyo suburbs.

Xie Chengze stars as Li’s on-screen avatar, while the supporting cast includes a notable cameo from Sylvia Chang Ai-chia as a language teacher and long-term resident.

The drama, such as there is, revolves around Nankokute, a popular Chinese restaurant where university student Li Xiaoli (Xie) gets a part-time waiter job soon after arriving in the country. He works alongside an eclectic assortment of Chinese immigrants, who become something of a surrogate family to the young lad as he struggles to acclimatise to his new environment.

Manager Guan Wei (Qi Xi) has had her application for permanent residency rejected, but is still keen to remain in Japan and start a family with her boyfriend (Song Ningfeng), an illegal immigrant. Chef Wan (Chen Yongzhong) has a wife and child waiting for him back in China but is reluctant to return to them.

Fellow waiter Zhao (Niu Chao) appears the happiest of the bunch, as he is half-Japanese and speaks the language fluently. But when Zhao identifies him as a potential rival for the affections of Qiu Qiu (Qiu Tian), Xiaoli’s pretty classmate, he starts bullying the new recruit.