Zhang Yimou said, "Opportunities always exist. If you ask the most famous actor in Hollywood he would wish for a great opportunity and a good role to perform. There is still a long way for these two actors to go."

Zhang said that he decided to direct the film after being moved by the original story.

Zhang said, "In fact, when a director looks at any script or story, they look for a way to make it different. I don't want to repeat. So when I was making this story, I thought that it was best to use simple language. And I wanted to guide the audience through the actors' performance in a quiet mood, slowly. It's different from what I did before with the emphasis on the colors and cinematography."

The idea of love in the 1970's has attracted many of China's post 80's generation to the movie. Many say that they want to experience the pure love of the previous generation, which is seemly hard to survive in today's society, in a time when arguably, most love depends on material and practical things.