The film cast only five characters,[3] and it focuses on the struggles of a husband and wife, and the ensuing turmoil when Zhang Zhichen, Liyan's former classmate and, ironically, Yuwen's former lover, pays an unplanned visit to the residence.

The Dai family still manages to live in an uneventful peace, but this is suddenly challenged by an unexpected visit from Liyan's childhood friend Zhang Zhichen (Li Wei), a doctor from Shanghai who previously had a relationship with Yuwen.

During Zhichen's first evening at the home, Yuwen rekindles their love, visiting him and sending him some bedding and a thermos to show her concern.

Xiu, having just turned sixteen years old, develops romantic feelings for Zhichen, who himself is conflicted between his love for Yuwen and his loyalty to Liyan.

As Yuwen and Zhichen struggle between overcoming or succumbing to their passion for each other, Liyan attempts suicide by taking an overdose of sleeping pills.

In the final sequence of the film, Dai Xiu and Old Huang walk Zhichen to the train station, while Yuwen is on the wall with Liyan and points into the horizon.

During the war, the Japanese bombed numerous Chinese cities, causing enormous casualties and damage, in which around 20 million people died.

At the end of the film, Fei Mu and screenwriter Li Tianjin considered using a screenplay in which Zhichen and Yuwen joined the revolution together—a kind of finale of a classic left-wing movie since it is an easy solution.

[9] The war between the Nationalists and the Communists is referenced ever so slightly in the film when Liyan scoffs at the notion that they are living in peaceful times despite the end of the Sino-Japanese conflict.

Spring in a Small Town applied some analogies of ancient poetry to the scenes and images in the film, like the symbols of the moonlight, candle and orchid.

Also, based on the Second Sino-Japanese War background and ruined walls image, the theme of Du Fu's poem "Chunwang" ("Spring Prospect") was invoked in this film: The nation shattered, mountains and river remain.

According to Susan Daruvala, the film acknowledges instincts and emotions as integral parts of a love relationship, yet they must be directed by wisdom or intelligence.

[3] Despite the tempting passion in the relationship between Yuwen and Zhichen, it, ultimately, does not materialize, hence highlighting its unfeasibility within the framework of Confucian values: wisdom, intelligence, and loyalty.

Inoue and Choe state that this phrase plays a key part to "[rationalizing] the impasse of the situation" between Yuwen, Zhichen and Liyan,[14] and summarizes the relationship between males and females in China during that time.

According to Leung, the voice-over is the key to establishing the film's exceptional sense of lyricism as well as Fei Mu's personal interpretation of ruination and his poetic aesthetics.

[17] According to Jie Li, Yuwen's voice-over accompanied by her personal subjective point of view shots connects the dreary city walls, her husband's pessimism and the ruins in the family compound.

[8] The amble cinematography in the film resonates with Du Fu's famous poem “Spring Gazing”, which was written during the An Lushan Rebellion.

The voice of Yuwen is the bridge that associates the dull, lifeless city ruins to the intimate household where the characters disclose their longing for passion and closure.

Spring in a Small Town, unlike its leftist predecessors of the 1930s, focused on a more intimate affair with no clear antagonists except for time/circumstance and with only tangential references to the politics of the day.

[25] The remake received accolades and recognition in the Venice Film Festival and rave reviews, although it was criticized for removing Yuwen's voice over.