Qian li zou dan qi (2005)

Directors:

Yimou Zhang
Yasuo Furuhata (co-director: Japan)

Writers:

Bin Wang (story)
Yimou Zhang (story)

Release Date:

22 December 2005 (China)

Genre:

Drama

Plot:

A Japanese father travels to China's Yunnan province in the place of his ailing son to film a famous folk-opera star.

Plot Keywords:

China | Hospital | Cancer | Village | Japanese

Awards:

4 wins & 6 nominations

Cast

Ken Takakura	...	Gou-ichi Takata
Shinobu Terajima	...	Rie Takata
Kiichi Nakai	...	Ken-ichi Takata (voice)
Ken Nakamoto	...	Electrician
Jiamin Li	...	Li Jiamin
Jiang Wen	...	Jasmine
Lin Qiu	...	Lingo
Li Bin Li	...	Director (as Bin Li)
Ziliang Chen	...	Warden Chen
Zhezhou He	...	Village Chief
Zhenbo Yang	...	Yang Yang

Also Known As:

Riding Alone (International: English title) (informal short title)
Riding Alone for Thousands of Miles (USA) (new title)
Tanki, senri o hashiru. (Japan)
Kalpazontas monos hiliades milia (Greece) (DVD title) [el]
Lelki vándorúton (Hungary) [hu]
Mille miglia lontano (Italy) [it]
Min lange rejse (Denmark) [da]
Rida ensam i tusen mil (Sweden) [sv]
Riding Alone for Thousands of Miles (Germany) (DVD title) [de]
Tysiace mil samotnosci (Poland) [pl]
Um Longo Caminho (Brazil) (festival title) [pt]
Un largo y doloroso camino (Argentina) (DVD title) [es]

MPAA:

Rated PG for mild thematic elements.

Runtime:

107 min

Country:

Hong Kong | China | Japan

Language:

Mandarin | Japanese

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital

Certification:

USA:PG | Singapore:PG | Malaysia:U | Sweden:Btl | Singapore:M18 (DVD rating) | Argentina:Atp | Australia:PG | South Korea:All | Iceland:L

Filming Locations:

Lijiang, Yunnan Province, China

Company:

Beijing New Picture Film Co.

Trivia:

The scenes filmed in Japan were directed by Yasuo Furuhata. He has had a long successful collaboration with lead actor Ken Takakura.

Goofs:

Continuity: In the village scene Mr. Takata has to move to the highest location to make a phone call. In the following scene however he can receive phone calls while at a banquet in the lower part of the village.

The Movie Did Not Connect With Me At All

To be brutally honest, I have to confess that I spent a good part of this movie struggling not to succumb to the temptation to fall asleep. Director Yimou Zhang makes a deliberate attempt to tug on the viewers' heart strings with "Riding Alone" but aside from a handful of scenes near the end of the movie (particularly those that portrayed the relationship between Takata and Yang Yang) I can't say that I found myself especially moved. The story is about a Japanese man (Takata) whose son (Rie) is gravely ill in a Tokyo hospital. The two have been estranged for years and when Takata visits Rie in the hospital, Rie refuses to see him. Takata, however, takes home a video given to him by Rie's wife, which gives Takata a greater understanding of his son's dreams, and compels him to travel to Yunnan Province in China to fulfil one of those dreams. For whatever reason, this movie just didn't make a connection with me. The scenes set inside the Chinese prison particularly struck me as being very unlikely. I have difficulty believing that conditions in that environment would be so welcoming to a foreigner and so apparently comfortable for the inmates.The last half hour or so wasn't bad but I have to say that I had a lot of difficulty making it that far. 2/10