Riding Alone for Thousands of Miles (2005) [Film Review]

Riding Alone for Thousands of Miles; or, Finding Inner Self

This week’s review will be about a small-budget (for Yimou Zhang standards) drama film that treats about such themes as parental love, reconciliation, and a journey to unravel one's hidden feelings.

Release Info

Directed by: Yimou Zhang Starring: Ken Takakura, Qiu Lin, Jiang Wen, Li Jiamin

Language: Mandarin, Japanese Original Title: Qian li zou dan qi Movie Industry: PRC Runtime: 103 min

Plot

Gouichi Takata (Ken Takakura) is an aged fisherman living in seclusion until one day his daughter-in-law (Shinobu Terajima) tells him that his grown-up son, Kenichi (Kiichi Nakai), is in hospital. Takata travels to Tokyo, but Kenichi refuses to see him. Resigned Mr Takata views a vhs tape from the son’s visit to China and, profoundly influenced by the recording, decides to go there on his own and record a folk opera called “Riding Alone for Thousands of Miles” performed by a local singer Li Jiamin. However, when arriving on a foreign land, Mr Takata not only has to overcome language barriers and cut through a lot of red tape in order to see with Li, but he also has to ride for thousands of miles himself in order to reconcile with his ailing son.

The Essence of Sacrifice

Zhang Yimou's film presents the viewers with a complicated relationship that is such an obvious thing as a bond between father and son. Thankfully, the movie does not strive to have a mystery of any sort, but we are made to wonder throughout the picture what has happened between the two men that distanced them from each other (and who’s to blame?). Well, the truth is rather trivial: it’s all about not being able to show one’s feeling. Mr Takata for the first time finds himself completely hopeless on a foreign land and thus has to rely on the assistance of Jiang Weng, the translator, and Qiu Lin, the tour guide (both characters were named after the actors portraying them who have the same professions in real life). The partners of his journey constitute a paragon of a “normal” and “emotional” person that Mr Takata struggles so hard to become.

However, the film also tells the story of another father and son. Li Jiamin (also, a real-life local opera singer...) has an illegitimate 8-year-old son Yang Yang, whom he has never seen. That’s the cause of Mr Takata’s picturesque journey through China, to bring together a different father and his son. Needless to say, the final outcome is a surprising one, but you’ve got to see it for yourselves. On the way, Takata encounters many peculiar individuals as well as their local traditions and travels through the utmost secluded and scenic natural locations of one of the vastest countries on earth.

Basically, Riding Alone for Thousands of Miles is a transformation-through-journey movie with a brilliant performance from the late Ken Takakura (his penultimate picture in career), tear-jerking story, and wonderful locations in which the tourist rate must have definitely increased after the premiere of this film.

Recommendations

If you like journey films such as Scarecrow (1973), Out of Africa (1985), or Lost in Translation (2003), you’ll surely enjoy Riding Alone for Thousands of Miles. This film is a fine addition to travel subgenre and leaves you uplifted and deeply moved. In general, this is a very peaceful, yet remarkable film.

Overall score: 8/10