Printemps perdu

What first originated the film was an old fascination for China. There was a desire to direct a contemporary melodrama, and finally, the idea of making a film about music. Two events pushed further this desire: the discovery of a 16th Century Chinese opera, The Peony Pavilion, and my meeting with a former Chinese opera singer who was sent to a labour camp during the Cultural Revolution. Slowly, 1 carne up with a free transposition of the opera, through the story of that man, by telling a romaneske intrigue open to dreams and make-believe. (Alain Mazars)