RIDING ALONE FOR THOUSANDS OF MILES
Father and Son, by Zhang Yimou
PopcornReel.com Film Review: "Riding Alone For Thousands of Miles"
By Omar P.L. Moore/September 8, 2006
The emotional gulf: Ken Takakura searches for his
estranged son, while Yang Zhenbo looks for his own father, in "Riding Alone For
Thousands of Miles", directed by Zhang Yimou.
(Photos: Bai Xiaoyan/Sony Pictures Classics)
Zhang Yimou settles into slower-paced
territory with his new film, "Riding Alone For Thousands Of Miles",
a film that sneaks up on its audience with its ability to move emotions.
Ken Takakura, Japan's legendary dean of film stars, presides proudly in this
film as Takata Gou-ici, a father who has been estranged from his only son, who
is battling a terminal illness. Takata attempts to see his son in
hospital, and his daughter Takata Rie (played by Terajima Shinobu) surprises her
brother with the news that his father is just steps outside the hospital ward
door, but this news does not have the desired affect on the son.
Frustrated, the senior Takata travels from Japan to China in pursuit of the man
who performs the opera that his dying son adores. With the help of an
interpreter Jasmine (Jiang Wen) he searches for the man a performer named Li
Jiamin (who has the same name in real life). Li also has issues with his
own son, whom he has never seen.
"Riding Alone for Thousands of Miles" demonstrates the interdependence of human
beings in difficult situations. The human heart, as has been shown in
countless films over time, can be wretched or unforgiving, or it can be deeply
profound and loving. Zhang Yimou's film depicts its actors exhibiting all
of these qualities. The journey that Takata Gou-ici takes is highlighted
by Zhao Xioading's magical cinematography which focuses on locations, not the
costumes of Mr. Zhang's more high-powered kinetic films ("Hero", "House of
Flying Daggers"). Contemplation is visually displayed with wide shots of
natural habitat or mountains -- shots which suggest the gulf between nations
(Japan and China perhaps) and more pertinently, between fathers and their sons.
The language barrier between nations (Japan and China) is sometimes humorously
depicted here with another translator Lingo (played by Qui Lin) who tries to
translate Takata Gou-ici's Japanese words into Chinese but knows barely a lick
of Japanese. Takata's encounters with Li Jiamin are emotional ones, as
both helps the other with finding the sons that have been emotionally dead to
them. Outstanding in this film is the young child Yang Yang(played by Yang
Zhenbo) that Li has been craving to see for years.
The music from the Chinese National Symphony Orchestra is tremendous, as are the
performances all around. "Riding Alone For Thousands of Miles" is a metaphor for
hope, courage, healing, soul-searching, and the language both spoken and
unspoken, of fathers and sons. This quiet, meditative film is one of Mr.
Zimou's greatest triumphs.
Copyright 2006. PopcornReel.com. All Rights Reserved.
"Riding Alone For Thousands of Miles" is rated PG. The film's duration
is 1 hour 38 minutes and is based on a story by Zhang Yimou, Zou Jingzhi and
Wang Bin. Mr. Zou wrote the screenplay.