
Forever Young (2K Restored Version)
Dir: Huang Shuqin
Orig Story: Wang Meng
Scr: Zhang Xian
Prod Co: Shanghai Film Studio
Cast: Zhang Min, Liang Yan, Qin Ling
1983 | Colour | DCP | Putonghua | Simplified Chinese Subtitles | 98min
Based on the eponymous debut novel of Wang Meng, Forever Young draws on his encounters with high school students and was written when he was just 19. First serialised in newspapers during the 1950s, the novel was not published in full until 1979, yet its themes of adolescent friendship, rivalry and aspiration remained just as resonant two decades later. Honouring a long-held promise, Shanghai Film Studio brought the story to the screen, with veteran writer Zhang Xian spending four years on the screenplay.
The studio struggled to find the right director until Huang Shuqin stepped forward to take on the project. Only her second feature, the film reveals her remarkable sensitivity in depicting the coming-of-age of a group of schoolgirls in the early 1950s. Set against the broader backdrop of a nation in transition, seen in National Day parades and Soviet film screenings for example, the girls’ personal struggles and youthful longings unfold with both tenderness and precision. With Wang’s story, Zhang’s script and Huang’s direction, Forever Young captures the delicate balance between the universal and the historical: the timeless experience of growing up entwined with the particular rhythms of the society. A captivating work that reflects both its time and the spirit of youth.
Date | Time | Venue |
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16/11/2025 (Sun) # | 12:00nn | Cinema, Hong Kong Film Archive |
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