Riding Alone For Thousands of Miles (2005)
Riding Alone For Thousands of Miles (2005) 7/10
Even considering the utterly horrid english translation of the mandarin title, this is quite a remarkable film by director Zhang Yimou, who departs from the extravagance of his past few films to return to the basic yet immensely rewarding low-budget effort.
I wasn’t initially impressed by the plot. The first half an hour seemed like a fool’s errand, a stubborn Japanese father going to China to fulfil the wish of a dying son. How cliche can you get? It seemed every bit a sentimental, sugary tale that i was wondering if this was the very same Zhang Yimou that gave us Hero? But Zhang knows how to make a good movie, and wisely chooses Ken Takakura to anchor the film. This veteran Japanese actor is brilliantly stoic, and over time, even the most hardened viewer will begin to like the spirited stubborness of Ken’s character.
By the midway mark, a most miraculous thing has happened: in spite of the cheesiness of the whole setup, i began to enjoy the film. The scene where Ken interacts with the young boy Yang Yang is marks the turning point of the film. And in between, you never fail to be taken in by the breathtaking cinematography of China. By the time the unabashedly sentimental ending comes around, you will be touched, not because it is deliberately manipulative, but because the tale of father-son relationship is told with a heart.
Its not often that a film which starts off on a bad footing and which i didn’t like the beginning manages to enthrall me by the end of the film. But Zhang Yimou, true to his reputation, knows how to make films that speak to the audience. And this is one such film.
