by MARK SLUTSKY

With movies like The Emperor and the Assassin and Farewell, My Concubine, Chen Kaige became known to Western audiences as a prominent member of China's Fifth Generation of film directors (a group that also includes Chen's former artistic collaborator Zhang Yimou). After last year's critically disastrous and little-seen English-language effort, Killing Me Softly, Chen has returned to Chinese cinema with Together, a surprisingly conventional and even melodramatic film about a musical prodigy.

The prodigy in question is Liu Xiaochun (Tang Yun), an adolescent violinist who lives in a village with his father Cheng (Liu Peiqi). The two leave for the bright lights of Beijing so that Tang can compete in a prestigious school's violin competition, which a lesser student wins through bribery. Father and son stick around though, and Tang begins to train with the somewhat snarky Jiang (Wang Zhiwen), a brilliant-seeming but anti-social teacher. Tang forms a friendship with a local woman, Lili (Chen Hong) and eventually graduates to study under the wealthier, more successful-seeming Professor Hu (played by Chen himself) as his father questions his continued role in Tang's life.

Together confounds expectations in a couple of weird ways; for one, it starts with a very overt city mouse/country mouse theme, what with the two villagers arriving in the big city. You'd expect at this point that the two would be confused or at least startled by modern urban life, a staple of such plots, but they actually adjust fairly well. Beijing is portrayed as a Western-style city of luxury (the camera lingers lovingly over the accoutrements of Chen's stylish apartment) and easy social advancement. Even the poor seem to live well in Beijing, and jobs seem plentiful - it's an unconvincing fantasy city, like something out of a Hollywood rags-to-riches picture.

Though Together's main narrative is somewhat soppy, there is stuff to like in this movie; the slick visuals are occasionally quite beautiful to watch (especially the village in the opening, which, with its canals, looks a little like a Chinese Venice). The principal actors are all quite strong, and Wang especially handles his role with an enjoyable rumpled dignity. A few nice moments in otherwise flat movie.

Together opens Friday, May 30

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