There's storm beneath the quiet of "Springtime in a Small Town," the first film in 10 years by acclaimed Chinese director Tian Zhuangzhuag. The 2002 film, which nabbed honors in Toronto, New York, Chicago and Venice -- including top prize at the latter -- makes its Milwaukee premiere this weekend.

Serene, slow-moving and quiet - with long sequences with virtually no dialogue whatsoever - the mellow feel of "Springtime in a Small Town" masks an underlying passion, disappointment and resentment.

Set in a small Chinese town in 1946 after the withdrawal of Japanese troops, 30-year-old Dai Liyan (Wu Jun) lives among the bomb ravaged compound left to him by his dead parents. With him live his wife Yuwen (Hu Jingfan), his 16-year-old sister Dai Xiu (Lu Sisi) and their "butler" Lao Huang (Ye Xiaokeng).

Liyan is ill, sapped of energy and ravaged by coughing fits, although whether the cause is physical, emotional or infectious, is unclear to us and to the characters. Meanwhile, his relationship with Yuwen, whom he married eight years earlier, has never been good and they've had separate rooms for a long time.

Enter an unexpected guest. Zhang Zhichen (Xin Baiqing), the childhood pal of Liyan is back from the big city after 10 years away. In the intervening years he's become a doctor, luckily for Liyan, who could use some help.

But when Zhichen sees Yuwen, we learn that they also were childhood neighbors and a little more than friends. With Yuwen's unhappy life, the situation is ripe for all kinds of betrayals.

But in an ordered society, can Yuwen look past her duties as a wife? Even when Liyan voices the opinion that she'd be better off which Zhichen, her moral dilemma is not easily solved. Sometimes it takes another unexpected event to open one's eyes to the right path.

The screenplay is based on a story by Li Tianji and a 1948 film adaptation by the controversial Fei Mu, so it is apparently a familiar one in China and fans of Tennessee Williams will also recognize the love-triangle-based storyline.

Subtly charged and artistically paced, "Springtime in a Small Town" has been called, "a fine expression of the Chinese new wave," and it's an enjoyable, passionate work.

"Springtime in a Small Town" screens at UWM Union Theatre, 2200 E. Kenwood Blvd., on the second floor of the student union, at 7 and 9 p.m. on Friday and Saturday, Sept. 17-18, and at 5 p.m. on Sunday, Sept. 19. Admission is $5.

The same director's 1986 film, "The Horse Thief," is also screened at 5 p.m. on Saturday. Meanwhile, his "The Blue Kite," from 1993, screens Thursday, Sept. 16 at 7 p.m.