To many Chinese, the early 1980s were part of a "golden era" for idealists.

A romance film named after the decade has recently made a nostalgic splash among those missing their lost youth and dreams.

Love in the 1980s, adapted from a best-selling novel of the same name, opened in mainland theaters on Sept 11, which seems an awkward timing wedged between Hollywood blockbusters Mission Impossible 5 (Sept 8) and Minions (Sept 13).