Riding Alone For Thousands of Miles
by Yimou Zhang
List Price:
Our Price: $4.91
You Save: $10.08 (67%)
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
Buy Used: from $2.03 (click here)
Category: DVD
See more DVD releases
Buy this DVD movie at online store in your country
Canada
Canada
DVD Cover Information
Actor: Jiamin Li, Ken Nakamoto, Ken Takakura, Kiichi Nakai, Shinobu TerajimaDirector: Yimou Zhang
Brand: Sony
Producer: Yimou Zhang
Writer: Yimou Zhang
Producer: Jian Xiu
Producer: Weiping Zhang
Producer: William Kong
Producer: Zhenyan Zhang
Writer: Bin Wang
Writer: Jingzhi Zou
DVD: Region Code 1
Audio: English (Unknown); English (Subtitled); Spanish (Subtitled); French (Subtitled); Portuguese (Subtitled); Cantonese (Original Language); Portuguese (Original Language), Dolby Digital 5.1; French (Original Language), Dolby Digital 2.0 Surround; Chinese (Dubbed); French (Dubbed), Dolby Digital 2.0 Surround; Portuguese (Dubbed), Dolby Digital 5.1
Format: Anamorphic, Closed-captioned, Color, Dolby, Dubbed, NTSC, Subtitled, Widescreen
Picture Format: Anamorphic Widescreen, 1.85:1
Running Time: 107 minutes
DVD Release Date: 2007-02-06
Audience Rating: PG (Parental Guidance Suggested)
Studio: Sony Pictures Home Entertainment
Movie Reviews of Riding Alone For Thousands of Miles
Movie Review: Universal Themes Painted on a Small Chinese Countryside Canvas
Summary: 5 Stars
Although renowned Fifth Generation director Zhang Yimou has recently demonstrated strong predilections for stunningly florid and large scale martial arts epics, his recent RIDING ALONE FOR THOUSANDS OF MILES returns him to the humbler type of cinematic canvas he employed earlier in NOT ONE LESS, JU DOU, THE ROAD HOME, and THE STORY OF QIU JU. Here he returns to the simple story of a small group of individuals. There's the father, Takata Gouichi, estranged from his son Kenichi, the son Kenichi afflicted with liver cancer, the daughter-in-law Rie trying to mend fences before it's too late, and a Chinese mask opera performer Li Jiamin, differently but equally estranged from his son Yang Yang by having been sentenced to three years in prison for a moment's rage in defending his infant son. Orbiting this central constellation are the tour guide Jasmine, the sincere but inept translator Lingo, a provincial politician named Director Li, a prison warden Chen, the chief of Li Jiamin's home village, and a small cast of rural villagers who create a welcoming atmosphere for Mr. Takata as well as being the proverbial village that it takes to raise Yang Yang in his father's absence.
On its face, the title RIDING ALONE FOR THOUSANDS OF MILES refers to a regional mask opera for which Li Jiamin claims he is the country's greatest performer. On an earlier visit to China before his illness, Mr. Takata's son Kenichi had visited Yunnan Province and filmed Mr. Li performing a different opera. Kenichi is not only a Chinese opera aficionado, he is also a documentarian for Japanese television. Kenichi would like to film Li performing the Lord Guan character in Riding Alone, but Kenichi cannot stay any longer and Li is not feeling well enough. Kenichi promises to return the following year, but his illness renders him hospitalized. It is his father, Mr. Takata, who decides to film the opera and return with the tape to Japan, an act of reconciliation and perhaps the granting of his dying son's final wish. A series of bureaucratic trials, coupled with the realization of Li Jiamin's relationship with his five-year-old son and his own unexpected bonding with the little boy, leads the elder Takata finally to see the truth in his own father-son relationship.
At another level, RIDING ALONE FOR THOUSANDS OF MILES echoes the themes of Lord Guan's epic story as told in the classic Chinese novel, ROMANCE OF THE THREE KINGDOMS. Lord Guan was a famous and heroic general during a time when China was not yet united as a single country - he is perceived in Chinese legend as a paragon of loyalty to his sworn brothers and a model of righteousness. The "Riding Alone" title refers to a story within ROMANCE OF THE THREE KINGDOMS wherein Lord Guan undergoes numerous hardships and trials over a long journey to reach his sworn brother Liu Bei. The parallels with Mr. Takata's journey to Yunnan Province to film Li Jiamin are obvious if rather less bloody and militaristic.
In this movie, Zhang Yimou returns to his previous method in NOT ONE LESS of choosing for major roles local people who are not career actors. Remarkably, he preserves their authenticity while still managing to derive compelling performances from them. As he did with the master of the house in RAISE THE RED LANTERN, Mr. Zhang also returns to the device of never once showing one of his main characters - Kenichi in this case. The effect is powerful - we as viewers do not know the adult Kenichi any better than his father.
While the sweep of this story is far reduced in comparison to HERO and CURSE OF THE GOLDEN FLOWER, make no mistake about Mr. Zhang's cinematic touch. In place of hordes of attacking soldiers and sky-darkening waves of arrows, Mr. Zhang uses the visual grandeur of the Yunnan Province countryside to achieve his dramatic effects. And, as usual, Mr. Zhang demonstrates once again that he is without doubt the modern cinema's unsurpassed master of light and color.
For the first time, Mr. Zhang reaches out from his natural Chinese environs to include a Japanese perspective. Through the character of Mr. Takata, Director Zhang offers his perspective on Japanese culture while simultaneously viewing Chinese culture and life through perhaps overly sympathetic Japanese eyes. There is certainly room to be critical of Mr. Zhang's soft-pedaled portrayal of the Chinese prison system and the improbably cooperative cadres, as well as his romanticized depiction - bordering on Party propoganda - of rural country life and the peasants who live there. Nevertheless, he shows once again that he is a master craftsman and a true artist in painting large, life affirming tales on the smallest of canvases. Those looking for an epic or martial arts extravaganza should look elsewhere, but those who relish universal stories and themes drawn from the tribulations of a few average lives will find joy in RIDING ALONE FOR THOUSANDS OF MILES. One scene in the prison will surely draw tears from even the hardest of viewer hearts, just as it did from the prisoners in the scene itself.
Summary of Riding Alone For Thousands of Miles
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.Similar DVD Movies
Ju DouRazor; Release date: 2006-02-14; DVD
Best price: $8.00
Price in other shops:
Mountain Patrol: KekexiliMountain; Release date: 2006-08-29; DVD
Best price: $2.07
Price in other shops:
ShowerYANG,ZHANG; Release date: 2000-12-12; DVD
Best price: $8.95
Price in other shops:
The Story of Qiu JuSony; Release date: 2006-03-28; DVD
Best price: $11.00
Price in other shops:
Happy TimesRelease date: 2002-12-03; DVD
Best price: $6.15
Price in other shops:
The Road HomeZIYI,ZHANG; Release date: 2001-11-27; DVD
Best price: $20.81
Price in other shops:
For the ChildrenALLUMINATION HOME ENT.; Release date: 2006-06-06; DVD
Best price: $5.25
Price in other shops:
The Cave of the Yellow DogGPI; Release date: 2007-02-13; DVD
Best price: $6.49
Price in other shops:
Not One LessMINZHI,WEI; Release date: 2000-08-22; DVD
Best price: $15.75
Price in other shops:
TogetherSony; Release date: 2003-11-18; DVD
Best price: $7.14
Price in other shops: