Qiu Shui is like the Hawkeye or Trapper John of his 1990s Beijing medical school. The slacker largely cruises through classes, spending more time writing the knock-off Kung Fu novels that pay his tuition than actually studying. In contrast, his classmate girlfriend Bai Lu is a model of studiousness, but Qiu is incapable of properly committing, because he has yet to recover from being dumped by his hometown girlfriend.
One fateful day, Qiu happens to meet Liu Qing, a mysterious older but strikingly beautiful woman—and suddenly all bets are off. Despite attempts to keep his options open with Bai, it is pretty clear he is obsessed with Liu, who equally clearly already has her own share of shady lovers in the picture.
Li and cinematographer Zeng Jian (who lensed several Lou Ye films) shot ESWL like an art film, but the narrative is a weird blend of randy student antics and weepy soap opera fare, sort of like a throwback to 1980’s films like St. Elmo’s Fire and Cocktail. That also makes it an unexpected guilty pleasure.
The performances are solid, but they are totally in service of a shamelessly manipulative tear-jerking soap opera. There is no actual nudity, but most of the med students are generally less mature than the American Pie kids. Aside from Qiu and his lovers, Zhang Boyu definitely stands out as the schlubby striving Hou Pu (think of him as the equivalent of Bell in The Paperchase). Regardless, it is actually entertaining as an emotional roller-coaster, especially since it also comes with plenty of seduction. Definitely recommended for Fan Bingbing’s fans (keep the faith you all), Ever Since We Love opens this Friday (9/17) in select theaters, including the Denver Film Society.
