Product Description

Takada, a Japanese fisherman, has been estranged from his son for many years, but when the son is diagnosed with terminal cancer his daughter-in-law, Rie, summons him to the hospital. When his son refuses to see him, Rie gives him a videotape about the work his son was doing on a documentary film in a remote region of China’s Yunnan province. Still troubled by the relationship, Takada decided to complete his son’s work in part to develop an understanding of his son, and in part to do something for him. Once in China, a series of obstacles and relationships bring him unexpectedly closer to both an understanding of himself and of his son.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #17822 in DVD
• Brand: Sony
• Released on: 2007-02-06
• Rating: PG (Parental Guidance Suggested)
• Aspect ratio: 1.85:1
• Formats: AC-3, Closed-captioned, Color, Dolby, Dubbed, DVD, Subtitled, Widescreen, NTSC
• Original language: Cantonese
• Subtitled in: English, Spanish, French, Portuguese
• Dubbed in: Chinese, French, Portuguese
• Number of discs: 1
• Dimensions: 1.00 pounds
• Running time: 109 minutes

Amazon.com
Zhang Yimou's heartfelt feature about cultural displacement, grief, and reconciliation is a lovely and somewhat unexpected work from the director of Raise the Red Lantern and House of Flying Daggers. Japanese actor Ken Takakura stars as Gou-ichi Takata, a laconic man who lives in a fishing village and is estranged from his son. When word reaches him that his son is ill with cancer, Takata travels to Tokyo but is turned away. Takata learns that his son has a passion for rural Chinese folk opera, and he flies to mainland China to locate Li Jiamin (playing himself), an opera star who happens to be in jail at the moment. Takata's story reminds Li of his own sad disconnection from his young son, and Takata sets out to restore their relationship as a prelude to helping his own with Li's help. Zhang himself is unusually operatic here, with intense emotions flying around, prettified visions of nature, and characters--including prison guards and peasants--who seem idealized, both as folklore and even old, Maoist notions of cooperation. Zhang's longtime admirers will appreciate and understand this change of pace from a filmmaker whose relationship with Chinese officials has often been strained over content. But film fans less familiar with his body of work will enjoy Riding Alone as well. --Tom Keogh

Stills from Riding Alone for Thousands of Miles (click for larger image)

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Customer Reviews

Astonishing Chinese Journey of the Soul
There are a half dozen films that can change your life after one viewing. I felt this was such a masterpiece. A Japanese father who has learned to control his emotions discovers that his estranged son is dying of cancer. When he goes to the hospital room, the son won't let him stay. Yet the wife of the son is trying to reconcile father and son and lets it be known that the son adores classical Chinese opera.

Seeking a crack in which to connect emotionally with his son, the father then goes to China - where he does not speak the language - and seeks out a Chinese opera star so that he can film a production of "Riding Alone for Thousands of Miles." Unfortunately, the opera star is now in jail, but that does not stop the father from trying to film the production in Chinese prison. The father's desperate struggle to do one last thing to connect with his son - a true act of love - transforms all who begin to come into contact with him...and in old age, the father learns the value of openness in emotions that had been so bottled up before.

Altogether, a wonderful film experience. Truly, I was shaken emotionally.

Touching Depiction of A Father's Love
Zhang Yimou's Riding Alone for Thousands of Miles is a brilliant portrayal of the love that a father has for his child. Zhang uses the character of Takata to fuel this portrayal. Takata has such a profound inability to communicate with his son that he uses his daughter-in-law as a de-facto "interpreter" between himself and his child. During these "interpretations", Takata discovers that his son had promised to film a Chinese opera singer playing his most famous role. As an attempt at reconciliation, Takata goes to China to finish this task for his son, who is dying of cancer. In going to China, Takata seems to face an insurmountable obstacle: a foreign country where a different language is spoken. However, in a clever twist, this obstacle actually turns out to be an advantage for Takata, because he is used to dealing in an environment where he is unable to converse with others. Takata uses the skills he's developed to compensate for his communication deficiencies in order to find the person his son wished to film. When that person displays some relationship challenges with his own son, Takata takes it on himself to establish a connection between the opera singer and his child. In doing so, Takata finally establishes a bridge between himself and his own son.

While the story itself is intriguing, it wouldn't work without amazing acting from all the cast (particularly Ken Takakura as Takata), stunning cinematography, and a lyrical script. All of these elements are present in Zhang's other films, like Hero and Curse of the Golden Flower. It's a clear measure of Zhang's talent that he is able to abandon the historic epic form of those other movies and instead utilize these elements to create an intimate, emotional portrait.

Some viewers may be reluctant to view Riding Alone for Thousands of Miles because all of the dialogue is in Chinese. However, the movie (like its protagonist) transcends language to movingly convey its core emotions. It's rare to find a moving portrayal of such basic emotions in any language, much less a portrayal that is also entertaining. For that reason alone, Riding Alone for Thousands of Miles is a film that deserves a large audience.

It's worth going Thousands of Miles
Zhang Yimou once again shows us his background as a cinematographer. He uses muted colors for the scenes in Japan where the characters, except the son's wife (a very promising up-and-coming actress in Japan, full of emotive capabilities), have bottled up emotions. Then uses bright, saturated colors (infrequently overexposed) in China when the father is learning about showing emotions and showing emotion.
When traveling in China you hear about all of the freedom Mr. Zhang has to do whatever project nowadays as he is praised on CTV regularly, but it is still amazing that he was allowed to do so much in a prison.
Once again as in "Not One Less" he has shown that he gets to the heart of the story better without using an expensive cast of professional actors with big names. I think this saves him having to battle with professional actors about the acting craft that they "know so much about" and the roles come off the way he wants them to.
I think Mr. Takakura (a tried and true Japanese actor) did an excellent job as a foreigner in China and the film depicted realistically the difficulties of being a foreigner traveling in China. That is once again to the lattitude that Mr. Zhang is allowed currently and I want to thank him for his honesty because most Chinese do not recognize the difficulties of being a foreigner in China. Chinese people want to be good hosts but they also do not feel they should go beyond the status quo due to societal traditions.
It is Chinese tradition that there is heroic death and heroic recognition that moves others to become better. That is what has made their tradition of literature and film so rewarding in that one comes away with a feeling of improving one's self by completing the story and wanting to become better.