You and Me (2005 film)

The film's story is based in part on director Ma Liwen's own experiences upon moving from Jiangxi to Beijing in the 1990s. Like the protagonist, Ma also moved into an old siheyuan style apartment owned by an elderly woman. Also like the film, Ma and her landlady initially clashed, though they eventually became friends. When her landlady died, Ma was filled with remorse leading eventually to her making You and Me.[1]

Ma Liwen said this of her film:

I used probably the most thickheaded method to shoot the four seasons. Meanwhile, the

story may be one of my own but it also has a universal theme. I aimed at showing the grandeur that arises from the trivial, instead of showing the trivial that arises from grandeur. This film was the result of my own experiences, yet it's still not so easy to

emphasize the emotional changes between two people.[2]

The two main leads, Gong Zhe as the young woman and Jin Yaqin as Grandma, were both first-time film actresses. Gong, a photography student, was cast in the lead role after literally being "discovered" by the director outside the cafeteria at the China Central University of Fine Arts.[2] Gong, however, has stated that the film production was strictly a one-time diversion from her stated career goals of photography.[3]

Jin Yaqin, meanwhile, was already 81 when the shoot first began. While You and Me was her first feature film, she had a nearly sixty-year career in theater and Chinese opera behind her.[2]