Description:
Chinese director Zhang Yimou, having followed two epic films in Hero and The House of Flying Daggers, returns to his roots with a low-key drama that ends up being even better than his more high profile endeavors. There is no kung fu to dazzle audiences, no dazzling color schemes, no breathtaking visions of idealized landscapes, and no lavish art and costumes to draw us into a sumptuous period piece. This is a simple story about simple people, but nevertheless, still as powerful in its themes and moving in its emotional core so as to make a more lasting impression on all that view it.
The star of Riding alone for Thousands of Miles is 74-year old veteran Japanese actor Takakura Ken. Director Zhang Yimou said he had been an admirer of Ken for 30 years and he created the film just for work with Ken once. The film begins with a Japanese fisherman (Takakura Ken) arrived in Tokyo to see his ailing son (Kiichi Nakai) but his son refuse to meet him because of something unforgivable his father did many years ago. The fisherman's daughter-in-law shows him a video, hoping he could know more about his own son. The video shows an Chinese actor performing an opera unique unique China's southwestern province of Yunnan and the play is called Riding alone for Thousands of Miles. The fisherman decides to travel to Yunnan to tape the play, which he considers the least he can do for his son. Of cause, this is only the beginning of the film.
Riding alone for Thousands of Miles has been hailed, both in China and in Japan, as a touching human story.
# Director: Zhang Yimou
# Cast: Ken Takakura Shinobu Terajima Jiang Wen Kiichi Nakai
# Video Aspect Ratio: Anamorphic Widescreen
# Audio: Japanese, Mandarin languages - Dolby Digital 5.1 & DTS
# Subtitles: Removable - English & Chinese (S)
# Extras: Making Of; Trailers; Stills; Slipcase; Cast & Crew
# Region 0 - NTSC DVD
# Released by Zoke Culture
Sample review:
Thankfully Zhang, Yimou is back to make another deeply moved and typical "Zhang's Style" movie and it is wise for him to stop producing further martial art films.
Ken Takakura is acting as Takada, a Japanese fishman whose son is diagnosed incurable disease but refuses to see him for the past unsolvable conflicts between them. Following the clue left on the video tape made by the son, Takada decides to travel thousands of miles from Japan to Li Jiang (Beautiful River) of Yun'nan Province in China, to complete his son's unfinished wish - to shoot a local drama played by local artist Li, Jianmin. After he arrived, a series of unexpected difficulties and events happened between him and local tour guide Qiu, Lin, love child Yangyang and opera actor Li, Jiamin among the other local residents, lead Takada to deeply think and comprehend the relationship between him and his son, and during this process his son finally forgive him from the past.
Audience can not only enjoy the familiar rural scene brought by Zhang, Yimou, but also the superb genuine performances brought by those actors who are just acting with their real names(and Zhang has done this before in previous movies) apart from Ken Takakura. The dialogues are superb, they can be amused, grieved, touched and thoughtful.
It is a rare movie that I can't wait to give my thumb up half-way before the end, and a must-see film can make you smile and giggle with the tears and weeps.
Author: Lianqing Li from Beijing, China
Aspect Ratio : 1.85:1
Screen Format :
Package Type : Keep Case
Print Status : In Print or Pre-print
CND170501090
Genre: Drama ASIN: ISBN: EAN:
ISRC: CND170501090
Audio/Dialogue:
Chinese Mandarin (Pu Tong Hua) Dolby Digital 5.1 Surround
Chinese Mandarin (Pu Tong Hua) DTS 5.1 Surround
Chinese Mandarin (Pu Tong Hua) Dolby Digital 2.0 Stereo
Subtitles:
English - Optional
Chinese (Simplified) - Optional
Street Date : 6 2006
Run Time (H/M/S): 1 Hour