Chinese director Chen Kaige, who made Palme D'Or winner Farewell My Concubine, returns to music for inspiration for his latest movie, Together (Han ni zai yiki). Where Concubine covered opera this is a sentimental, coming-of-age story about a teenage violinist prodigy who travels from his peasant village home with his doting father to develop his musical career in Beijing.

The green lad and devoted dad must overcome corruption and indifference as they strive to make it in the rarefied world of the concert musician without connections and little money. Along the way, Kaige warms to his themes about choosing between ambition and love and the nature of good art.

Characterisation is somewhat flat in this simple story, but the cast make up with vivacious performances, in particular a strong and often comical turn by Liu Peiqi as the opportunistic father and Chen Hong as the material girl with a soft centre who the boy befriends. Tang Yun as the wide-eyed boy gives a muted performance until he picks up the violin and lets rip in memorable renditions. This is also a beautifully shot movie, perhaps too beautifully (the streets of China seem surprisingly clean), a fact that underlines the sentimental nature of the film.