Made of soft fire & stubborn hope

I sit with my grief. I mother it. I hold its small, hot hand. I don’t say, shhh. I don’t say, it's okay. I wait until it is done having feelings. Then we stand and we go wash the dishes.

I've already waxed on about how much I love Director Zeng Qingjie's work and his use of the "feminine gaze" so I won't repeat myself too much but dammit the way he portrays desire (especially women’s desire) and does so this skillfully with barely a word of dialogue is unmatched.

Just look at the cinematography:

It's the architectural framing of the curtains and the soft backlighting to emphasize the intimacy of the characters being "alone" as husband and wife for the first time. It's the gradual tightening of each shot to capture the characters' growing physical awareness of one another. It's the play of power with her more physically dominant in the frame while he guides her movements verbally. It's the impressionistic use of a handheld camera and the fluid rack focus on the eyes to mimic the intoxication of their almost-but-not-quite kiss.

And don't forget Zeng's strategic insert of a close-up:

Look at how the lighting reveals the texture of the clothes she's taking off him! And the blanket he hugs to bring her closer! And the goosebumps that appear on his skin when she washes him! All that suggestive wetness.

(Side Note: Hilariously, Tumblr marked those particular images of the blanket and goosebumps as needing a content label so I had to remove them.)

There's a certain haziness to the scene but where they touch is still in focus--there's sensuality in the tactile.

Director Zeng, please make at least 1-2 romance dramas a year and show these other directors how it's done.