Riding Alone for Thousands of Miles (2006)
85%RT Audience Score: 81%
Awards & Nominations: 6 wins & 10 nominations
Doesn’t reach the heights of Zhang Yimou’s best, but this is still a heartwarming tale of love and forgiveness from the acclaimed Chinese director
Riding Alone For Thousands of Miles is a movie that takes you on a journey from Japan to China, but it’s not just any journey. It’s a journey of a father trying to mend his relationship with his dying son. The story may be simple, but the details and cultural clashes make it a profound example of unashamed feeling expanding across cultural barriers. Plus, the cast is the genuine article, from real-life opera singers to travel agents and youngsters. It’s a masterful little film that will leave you feeling sentimental but never manipulated.
Production Company(ies)
AOI Promotion Fuji Television, Network GAGA.
Distributor
NA
Release Type
Theatrical
Filming Location(s)
Lijiang, Yunnan, China
MPAA / Certificate
Rated PG for mild thematic elements
Year of Release
2005
-
Color:Color
-
Sound mix:Dolby Digital
-
Aspect ratio:1.85 : 1
-
Runtime:NA
-
Language(s):Mandarin, Japanese
-
Country of origin:United States
-
Release date:Release Date (Streaming): Feb 6, 2007
Genre(s)
Drama
Keyword(s)
starring Ken Takakura, Shinobu Terajima, Kiichi Nakai, Qiu Lin, Yang Zhenbo, Ken Nakamoto, directed by Yimou Zhang, written by Zou Jingzhi, drama, PG, box office gross $251.6K, reviewed by Steven D Greydanus, Marjorie Baumgarten, Stanley Kauffmann, Richard Nilsen, Desson Thomson, John Monaghan, Fernando F Croce, Amber Wilkinson, Maria Garcia, Laura Clifford, Robin Clifford, heartwarming, forgiveness, Chinese opera star, cancer, estranged son, Japanese fisherman, Tokyo, grief-stricken, separation, illegitimate son, cultural barriers, communication, father-son relationship, family drama, emotional, heartwarming tale, foreign language film, Chinese director, Japanese actor, Chinese actor, family reconciliation, fatherhood, redemption, cultural clash, cross-cultural, emotional journey, human connection, love, forgiveness, family, drama film, Asian cinema, East Asian cinema, Dolby Digital sound mix, Xiu Jian producer, Weiping Zhang producer, William Kong producer
Worldwide gross: $3,752,325
Worldwide gross (inflation-adjusted): $5,718,481
Worldwide gross ranking (inflation-adjusted): 2,134
Worldwide tickets sold (est.): 623,607
US/Canada gross: $252,325
US/Canada gross (inflation-adjusted): $384,539
US/Canada gross ranking (inflation-adjusted): 2,394
US/Canada opening weekend: $28,223
US/Canada opening weekend (inflation-adjusted): $43,011
US/Canada opening weekend ranking (inflation-adjusted): 2,259
Budget and Earnings Details
Production budget (est.): $7,500,000
Production budget (inflation-adjusted): $11,429,875
Production budget ranking: 1,618
Marketing and distribution budget (inflation-adjusted est.): $6,154,988
Box office net earnings to date (inflation-adjusted est.): -$11,866,382
ROI to date (est.): -67%
ROI ranking: 1,791
Shinobu Terajima – Rie Takata
Kiichi Nakai – Ken-ichi Takata
Qiu Lin – Lingo
Yang Zhenbo – Yang-Yang
Ken Nakamoto – Self
Xiu Jian – Producer
Weiping Zhang – Producer
William Kong – Producer
Yimou Zhang – Director
Zou Jingzhi – Writer
Dolby Digital – Sound Mix
Director(s)
Yimou Zhang
Writer(s)
Zou Jingzhi
Producer(s)
Xiu Jian, Weiping Zhang, William Kong
Film Festivals
Awards & Nominations
6 wins & 10 nominations
Academy Awards
All Critics (75) | Top Critics (28) | Fresh (60) | Rotten (15)
October 29, 2008 | Rating: B+
Steven D. Greydanus
Decent Films
TOP CRITIC
It’s the kind of story that shows more than it tells, a story that’s forged in the spaces that exist in between characters and spaces.
October 30, 2006 | Rating: 3/5
Marjorie Baumgarten
Austin Chronicle
TOP CRITIC
What remains most vividly after Riding Alone For Thousands of Miles, however, is not its story but its world–the immersion in that world of a foreigner, not a polo-shirted Yank but a stiff-necked Japanese. And it is all overseen by a Chinese director.
October 26, 2006
Stanley Kauffmann
The New Republic
TOP CRITIC
It sounds like a slight plot, and it is, but it is rich in detail that makes up for the simplicity of the story.
October 19, 2006 | Rating: 3.5/5
Richard Nilsen
Arizona Republic
TOP CRITIC
It’s a masterful little film, and, thanks to Zhang’s seasoned hands, it’s subtly heartfelt but never manipulative.
October 19, 2006
Desson Thomson
Washington Post
TOP CRITIC
A father takes a spiritual journey from Japan to China to help mend a decades-long rift between himself and his dying son. The lessons learned en route are as profound as they are simple.
October 13, 2006 | Rating: 3/4
John Monaghan
Detroit Free Press
TOP CRITIC
A profound example of unashamed feeling expanding across cultural barriers
August 30, 2009
Fernando F. Croce
CinePassion
This may be one man’s story but the themes are epic.
June 14, 2008 | Rating: 4.5/5
Amber Wilkinson
Eye for Film
The director fails to overcome a script that ignores the backstory of the characters, and that agonizingly details minor subplots.
March 1, 2007
Maria Garcia
Film Journal International
The story may be sentimental, but Yimou layers it by adding cultural clash to the generational ones.
February 24, 2007 | Rating: B
Laura Clifford
Reeling Reviews
From real-life opera singer Jianin to travel agent Lin Qiu and youngster Zhenbo Yang, the cast is the genuine article…
February 16, 2007 | Rating: B
Robin Clifford
Reeling Reviews
…gorgeously photographed and, like Babel, a subtly organized commentary on the ways people strive to communicate.
December 6, 2006 | Rating: 91/100
Philip Martin
Arkansas Democrat-Gazette…
Plot
A Japanese fisherman travels to Tokyo to see his estranged son who has cancer, but when his son rejects him, he decides to finish his dying wish of capturing a famous Chinese opera star’s performance on film. Along the way, he sets out to reunite the singer with his illegitimate son.
Trivia
Goofs / Tidbits
The film stars Ken Takakura, a legendary Japanese actor known for his roles in yakuza films.
Yimou-Zhang.jpg
