Starring: Ken Takakura, Jiang Wen, Qiu Lin, Li Jiamin
Director: Zhang Yimou
Category: I (Putonghua and Japanese)
Whether directing big-budget spectacles or smaller, poignant dramas, Zhang Yimou continually reaffirms his standing as one of the world's most inspired directors.
Riding Alone for Thousands of Miles belongs to a smaller category - a spiritual cousin to Not One Less and The Road Home (both made in 1999) that uses a contemporary rural setting to explore interpersonal bonds. Zhang breaks new ground by crossing international boundaries while remaining intimately Chinese, and in the process creating a work that conveys a universal theme without resorting to generic simplifications.
This is all the more remarkable in that the lead of this Chinese drama is played by Japanese actor Ken Takakura, and that the dialogue is mostly in Japanese. The script by Zou Jingzhi (based on a story by Zhang, Zou and Wang Bin) is deceptively straightforward. Retired fisherman Takata (Takakura) tries to make amends with his cancer-stricken estranged son, an aficionado of regional Chinese culture, by going to Yunnan province to complete a documentary featuring local opera performer Li Jiamin (who plays himself).