Coming off two stunning martial-arts epics, "Hero" and "House of Flying Daggers," Chinese director Zhang Yimou pauses for a contemplative, methodical sojourn.
Instead of clashing swords, flowing robes and fantastic wirework, the acrobatics and battles in "Riding Alone for Thousands of Miles" are internalized, yet no less enthralling.
Zhang's latest film is a devastating rumination on an old man's attempt to redeem his spoiled relationship with his dying son.
Yeah, yeah. Cue the violin music. But also grab a tissue, because the film levels far more of an impact than you might expect.
Much of the credit belongs to lead actor Ken Takakura, who made his career in the Japanese gangster films that Zhang grew up watching. Basing his screenplay on a Yu Cao play, Zhang wrote the part specifically for Takakura.
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Stoic yet able to reveal rivers of angst and longing running just beneath the surface, Takakura is reminiscent of Robert De Niro.
Takakura plays Takata, a fisherman who learns his estranged son has terminal liver cancer and is dying in a Tokyo hospital. Takata tries to visit but is turned away at the door by his son, who will speak to him only through his sister, Rie (Shinobu Terajima).
Shattered, Takata decides immediately to win back his son's love with a sweeping gesture — travel to a remote Chinese province to film a folk opera his son holds dear. Only a performance by the great master Li Jiamin (Jiamin Li) will do. The trip requires great expense, reserves of moxie to slice through government bureaucracy, and, yes, traveling alone for thousands of miles.
Takata overcomes obstacles one by one, never allowing anyone to see how rattled he is inside. The interpreter he's brought along constantly advises him to give up, and Rie calls more than once to beg her father to return home. Then Takata learns that Li Jiamin is unavailable to film. Still, Takata perseveres, because he's doing what, in his mind, absolutely must be done to atone for a lifetime of neglect.
There's a moment late in the film in which Takata veers from his main purpose to go on a side quest that appears to make no sense. Only Takata knows why he's doing what he's doing, and the mystery isn't fully revealed until a glorious late twist that's well worth the ride.
Riding Alone for Thousands of Miles
***1/2
Rated: PG for mild thematic elements.
Cast: Ken Takakura, Jiang Wen, Jiamin Li, Shinobu Terajima.
Writer/director: Zhang Yimou.
Family call: Fine for families.
Running time: 107 minutes.
Et cetera: In Mandarin and Japanese, with English subtitles.
