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Riding Alone for Thousands of Miles
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List Price: $14.94
Our Price: $10.49
Your Save: $ 4.45 ( 30% )
Availability: Usually ships in 24 hours
Manufacturer: Sony Pictures
Starring: Ken Takakura, Shinobu Terajima, Kiichi Nakai, Jiamin Li, Lin Qiu (II)
Directed By: Yimou Zhang
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Average Customer Rating:  
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Aspect Ratio: 1.85:1
Audience Rating: PG (Parental Guidance Suggested)
Binding: DVD
Brand: Sony
EAN: 0043396165854
Format: AC-3
Label: Sony Pictures
Manufacturer: Sony Pictures
Number Of Items: 1
Publisher: Sony Pictures
Region Code: 99
Release Date: 2007-02-06
Running Time: 109
Studio: Sony Pictures
Theatrical Release Date: 2005
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Editorial Reviews:
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For the first time in many years Gou-ichi TAKATA (Ken TAKAKURA) takes the bullet train to Tokyo from the quiet fisherman s village where he lives on the northwest coast of Japan. His daughter-in-law Rie (Shinobu TERAJIMA) telephones to tell him that his son Ken-ichi (Kiichi NAKAI) is seriously ill and asking for his father.But when he arrives in the city Takata finds that Rie was not entirely truthful: Ken-ichi has been hospitalized but after years of painful estrangement he still refuses to see Takata. Crushed the old man quietly slips out of the hospital but not before Rie gives him a videotape to watch. Rie hopes what Takata sees on the tape will help him get to know his son again.Takata plays the tape and learns that Ken-ichi is studying a form of Chinese folk drama that dates back more than a thousand years. Ken-ichi had traveled all the way to Yunnan Province in Southern China to see the famous actor LI Jiamin perform but the actor was ill and unable to sing. Li promised to sing the legendary song Riding Alone for Thousands of Miles from the literary classic Romance of the Three Kingdoms for Ken-ichi if he returns to Yunnan the following year.Hoping to bridge the gap between himself and his son Takata decides to find Li Jiamin and videotape his performance for the dying Ken-ichi. As the old man begins an odyssey into the heart of China he encounters a number of strangers who color his journey -- from well-meaning translators who guide him through China s idiosyncrasies to prison wardens anxious to promote Chinese culture abroad to a young runaway with a complicated father-son relationship of his own. What Takata discovers on his journey is kindness and a sense of family he thought he had lost long ago.Format: DVD MOVIE Genre:Â DRAMA Rating:Â PG UPC:Â 043396165854 Manufacturer No:Â 16585
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Spotlight customer reviews:
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Customer Rating:
Summary: Fantastic film
Comment: This film is a favorite of mine. A wonderful, original story, fantastic setting, wonderful acting, great dialog and narration of the main character's struggles. The cinematography of this film is extraordinary. Visually stunning work. See this film.
Customer Rating:
Summary: Simple Story and YET COMPLEX
Comment: It is hard not to be moved by this beautifully shot film. A simple story where a man sets out to mend his less than ideal relationship with his own son. In order to complete his "mission" he is dependent on the kindness, cooperation and help of others. As he sets out to complete his son's work, he becomes transformed and winds up helping others as well as himself. Furthermore, many main players in the film wind up helping others in part due to their own discrepancies.
A simple story that is extremely multi-layered with various story lines occuring all at once, yet each one never overly emphasized. Each layer of plot is brilliantly introduced within the main plot line of man trying to reconnect with his son through his son's passion for Chinese folk opera.
In the background of all this, the film is beautifully shot. Emotions run high and low. It is next to impossible to watch this film and not be impacted at one point or another. There is ALOT going on in this film and well worth several views. A beautiful, beautiful film.
Customer Rating: 
Summary: Watching Alone for Hundreds of Minutes
Comment: Based on the director's earlier work, I was looking forward to Riding Alone for Thousands of Miles. And while I did enjoy it, I was also mildly disappointed. This film is visually very appealing, but I its central relationship between the father and the son was less than involving.
Further, the characters seem to be playing "types" more than real people, so I suppose I could say that as a travelogue, this is first-rate, but as an engaging drama, it's less than successful.
Customer Rating:
Summary: You really are missing it
Comment: This is a rather emotional movie about a Japanese father who has difficulty dealing with his wife's death and estranges his son. It is obvious that he lived in a culture where emotions are bottled up. As his son lies dieing in the hospital, he can't even communicate with his daughter-in-law. It is mostly one way communication from her. He seldom speaks a word. However, in his attempt to redeem himself he involves himself with another young estranged son of a Chinese opera performer and learns a bit about himself, his son, and how fathers affect the lives of their sons. He never directly connects with his own son again before he dies, but does redeem himself with him. Afterwards, he returns to his loner existence. It is a more emotional journey for the viewer to watch than for the protagonist to project in the movie. His lack of outward emotion and dialogue are more telling than if he had been an emotional basketcase. Keep a box of tissues nearby.
Customer Rating:
Summary: I fall square in the middle on this Zhang Yimou film
Comment: I am one of those people who really enjoyed director Zhang Yimou's quiet and meditative Raise the Red Lantern and The Road Home (Chinese with English Subtitle) and not so much for his far more Western sucesses HOUSE OF FLYING DAGGERS/CROUCHING TIGER, HIDDEN DRAGON SBS P (DVD MOVIE). Though visually another superior effort, I personally could not tap into the story of father and son relationships. I found the film to be extremely slow and uninteresting. No momentum was ever reached; but for cinematography alone, "Riding Alone" was worth one look for me. The scenes shot at dusk in the "the land of Shangri-La" are some of the best that are captured on film. For me, though, a film about the distance and unresolved issues between father and son was not anything that I had or could relate, especially told in two languages with lots of interpretation going on. Simply for me, not a personal favorite, but no knock against what the incomparable Yimou was trying to accomplish. It just did not reach me.
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