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Thread: Riding Alone for thousands of miles

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    Post Riding Alone for thousands of miles

    I just came back to Beijing from its premiere in Lijiang in Southwest China's Yunnan Province yesterday.

    Later I will post something, including an interview with the director Zhang Yimou.


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    so what is it about??

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    "Riding Alone for Thousands of Miles" is one man's journey in Southwest China's Yunnan Province. It is also a journey to find his soul.

    Takata Gou-ichi (played by Takarura Ken) takes the train from his quiet Japanese fishing village to Tokyo following a telephone call from his daughter-in-law, Rie (played by Terajima Shinobu). Takata has been told by Rie that his son, Ken-ichi (played by Nakai Kiichi) is seriously ill, and asking for his father whom he has not seen for many years.

    But when he arrives, Takata finds that Rie has not been entirely truthful in her vain attempt to heal the painful rift that had long existed between father and son. Ken-ichi has been hospitalized, but still refuses to see his father.

    Crushed, the old man quietly leaves, with Rie handing him a videotape before his departure. Rie hopes that the tape, shot by Ken-ichi, will help him get to know his son again.

    Takata learns that his son is studying a form of Chinese folk performing arts featuring mask-wearing actors. Ken-ichi had travelled all the way to Lijiang to see the famous actor Li Jiamin (played by Li Jiamin) perform this Chinese folk singing, but the actor was ill and unable to sing. Li had promised to sing the legendary play, "Riding Alone for Thousands of Miles" for Ken-ichi if he returned the following year.

    Hoping to bridge the gap between himself and his son, Takata sets off for China, despite his lack of spoken mandarin and musical knowledge, to find Li Jiamin in order to videotape his performance for his dying son. Unfortunately, Takata finds that Li has been imprisoned, and videotaping his performance seems to be an impossible task. But Takata's determination moves the prison warden, who eventually allows him the freedom to film.

    However, Li also has a complicated father-son relationship since he has an 8-year-old illegitimate son, whom he has never met.

    Just at this time, Rie telephones Takata to break the news that Ken-ichi has already passed away. But in his last letter to his father, he expresses forgiveness.

    Hoping that Li will not suffer the same regrets of failing to know his son, Takata sets out to find Li's illegitimate son in a remote village in order to reunite him with his father Li. Through Takata's long and emotional journey he discovers a sense of family that he thought he had lost long ago.

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    Lijiang, Yunnan: The premiere of "Riding Alone for Thousands of Miles (Qianli Zou Danqi)," the latest motion picture of Zhang Yimou, was held on Friday in Lijiang in Southwest China's Yunnan Province, where the movie's story takes place.

    The public screening will begin on December 22 across China.

    The local government in Lijiang, a world heritage site famous for its ancient town, held the traditional "chang zhuo yan" (grand banquet) to welcome the crew and hundreds of reporters from both China and abroad.

    "Chang zhuo yan," a huge banquet with hundreds of adjoining dining tables extending for hundreds of metres, is the traditional way to receive distinguished guests to the town.

    This banquet echoes a scene in the movie, in which the hero (played by 73-year-old Japanese actor Takakura Ken) receives a warm welcome by farmers in the Stone Village.

    The director says the movie is tailor-made for Takakura Ken, whose movie "The Man Who Wades the River of Rage" was a big hit in China in the 1970s.

    It was that movie which captured the hearts of millions of young people. It inspired Zhang to quit his job in a cotton mill to enrol at the Beijing Film Academy almost 30 years ago.

    Since then Takakura has been his idol, and directing this movie is like realizing a dream, said Zhang.

    Three-times Oscar nominee for the best foreign film award and a frequent awardee at Venice, Berlin and Cannes film festivals, Zhang is indisputably the most renowned Chinese director. He is also the most profitable director in the Chinese film business, which is still in the emerging stages of a market-oriented reform.

    His previous two works, "Hero (Ying Xiong, 2002)" and "House of Flying Daggers (Shi Mian Mai Fu), 2004)," secured top box-office sales both at home and abroad of all the Chinese movies ever made.

    However, "Riding Alone" appears to reverse the practices of his mega-productions in the past few years, which boast an impressive cast, beautifully shot scenery and thrilling martial arts sequences but arguably feature weak storylines.

    This uncomplicated, affectionate tearjerker marks a return to the style of the director's earlier smaller-scale works.

    The story focuses on an aging father (Takakura Ken) striving to revive his relationship with his adult son, a plot that aims to touch people's deepest sensitivities.

    Zhang intentionally uses amateur actors and actresses to achieve a more documentary style effect. Except for Takakura Ken and the heroines of the film, all the remaining characters are played by their real life prototypes, who even keep their original names.

    Zhang's efforts have not been futile. The movie was received with laughter and tears by the audience at the Lijiang film premiere.

    "Riding Alone" is not quite the masterpiece of the director's defining work "Red Sorghum (Hong Gao Liang, 1987)." It does not have the epic qualities of "To Live (Huo Zhe, 1994)" nor is it as visually stunning as "The Road Home (Wo De Fuqin Muqin, 1999)."

    But it is still worth a look for its sincerity, especially following the numerous productions of empty big-budget Chinese movies featuring solely ostentatious action scenes.

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    Wink Interview with Zhang Yimou

    Q: Many people feel that your latest production is a film that examines and explores the inner worlds. What exactly did you want to convey to the audience?

    A: I talked extensively about this with the screenwriters. The first layer of the film features affection and communication between people. There is also a sense of sadness, loss, and solitude brought out in the movie.

    But we had other intentions. We hope the film will evoke similar emotions in the audience, causing them to think about emotions that go beyond borders and cultures and are common to all people. That is what the mask in the film represents that you should take off your mask to reveal your true self. We hope that by telling a moving story, the film will have the power to provoke people to think.

    We exchanged views with Takakura Ken, who offered us great advice. He shared many of his thoughts and life experiences with us, which were extremely valuable in helping us complete this movie.

    Q: After shooting the two mega-budget productions, you return to direct this smaller-budget literary film. Have the previous two big-hit movies influenced this film at all?

    A: Actually I decided to direct this movie before "Hero" and "House of Flying Daggers." Zou Jingzhi (the screenwriter) began writing the play before "Hero" came out. It is just a coincidence that this movie has come out after the other two.

    The media will call it "a return," but for a director, the change in genres is only a change in the way of creation. Every director hopes to try out different styles, just like we like various foods to satisfy our palate.

    I have never thought about adding fancy commercial elements into "Riding." But there is one thing for sure the most essential "commercial element" in all movies is true sentiment. Whether blockbusters or low-budget productions, the movie convey real sentiment. This is certainly the most important commercial element.

    Q: "Hero" and "House of Flying Daggers" are quite controversial and received mixed reviews. However, so far all the reviews on "Riding" are favourable. What are your expectations for its success at the box-office?

    A: Predicting box-office success is the one thing I'm least good at. Of course I hope my movie will be watched by more people and make money, but "Riding" is only a literary film. I hope it will hit the box-office record for literary films.

    Q: The premiere ceremony of "Riding," like those of "Hero" and "House of Flying Daggers," is very impressive.

    A: Marketing and distribution had been my weakest point in my years of moviemaking. Luckily I met New Picture (Beijing New Picture Film Co, the distribution company of Zhang's works), which has used unconventional and unorthodox ways to promote my movies.

    With the threat from Hollywood, marketing and promotion have gradually become a science in China.

    Q: Many of the folk customs featured in your movies, which appear to be very Chinese and attractive to a foreign audience, do not actually exist in real life. How about the Nuo Opera in "Riding"?

    A: It was an accident to use Nuo Opera as the film's background. Zou's first draft of the screenplay set the story in northern Shaanxi Province because he was very familiar with the lives of people there. But it is not new to me because I have already made "Qiu Ju Goes to Court" (1992). At that time, the screenplay had not been finished. But we had already made it clear that we would use many figurants. I am very interested in Yunnan and after we arrived here, we happened to learn that Nuo Opera is called "the living fossil" of traditional Chinese operas.

    We also noticed that masks play an important role in Nuo Opera. We suddenly conceived this idea of using masks in the movie to provoke people to think deeper. We did not make this up. Nuo Opera does in fact come from real life.

    Q: What are your comments on Takakura Ken's performance in your movie?

    A: Mr Takakura Ken is my idol. He is the idol of a whole generation of Chinese. Even today he remains my idol, whether on the screen or in real life. I adore his personality.

    I once said that a good crying performance is the basic qualification for actors. But he never cries in his movies. Later I realized that his performance was the crying of the heart. Weeping is a kind of crying, but the invisible crying of the heart is more evoking and touching. I like his reserved performance. It requires strong emotions and feelings but at the same time the control of all these emotions and feelings. So far there is no one in China who could achieve this.

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