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Zhang Yimou goes back to basics

By Ho Yi
STAFF REPORTER
Friday, Mar 31, 2006, Page 17

Riding Alone for Thousands of Miles (千里走單騎) is the fruitful outcome of a promise made 15 years ago between Japan's legendary actor Ken Takakura and Chinese director Zhang Yimou (張藝謀). Admiring each other's achievement in cinema, the two vowed to make a film together someday. Six-years of searching for a story and 10 scriptwriters later, Zhang has finally made a film tailor-made for Takakura, who plays a reticent father trying to redeem himself with his dying son.

The film tells the story of Takata Gou-ichi (Ken Takakura) and his son Ken-ichi, who, estranged from his father after an unexplained incident, refuses to see him even after he has been diagnosed with an incurable disease. Takata learns that his son's greatest wish was to film the famous performer Li Jiamin (李加民) sing Riding Alone for Thousands of Miles from the literary classic Romance of the Three Kingdom (三國演義). Takata embarks on a journey into the heart of China to film the performer in his son's stead.

Takakura shows the mark of a master in his subtle performance.

As a stranger in a strange land, Takata begins to understand the sources of the estrangement with his son, and the journey becomes a spiritual odyssey of his own. With the aid of the well-intentioned translators and the support of locals, Takata rediscovers the compassion and familial love he thought he had long lost. His bonding with the local child Yang Yang (陽陽) also gives him a chance to appreciate the father-son relationship he never had with his own son.

Ken Takakura, left and director Zhang Yimou on the set of Riding Alone for Thousands of Miles.

Although Takata never sees his son again, his insight into his own and his son's feelings set him free.

After his hollow martial-art extravaganzas Hero (英雄) and House of Flying Daggers (十面埋伏), Zhang has returned to the basics -- that is, to present a simple and genuine tale of humanity. Some may say the film runs the risk of sugar-coating the historic ill-will between China and Japan, but to Zhang's credit, the film successfully presents a simple story about human suffering, reconciliation and forgiveness.

Zhang once told the Chinese media that when shooting this film, he had to constantly remind himself to not make a pretty movie. Anthropological wonders and cinematographic techniques have no room in the work. The camera stopped rolling when the focus moved away from the affairs of the human heart.

But this doesn't necessary mean the film is visually deficient. The rugged and primeval landscape of Yunnan Province plays a key role in the film, serving as a milieu to bring out the inner emotions of the characters.

Film Notes: Riding Alone for Thousands of Miles (千里走單騎) Directed by: Zhang Yimou (張藝謀) Screening Venues: Cinemark cinema at the Living Mall (京華城喜滿客) Language: Mandarin and Japanese with Chinese and English subtitles Taiwan Release: Today

After a three-year break from acting, Takakura gives a memorable and touching performance in the film, successfully bringing to life the quiet tormented father. In the film, the 74-year-old actor worked intensively with the non-professional actors who make up the bulk of the cast and who are just as capti-vating as any seasoned performer. Together with Takakura, the amateur cast greatly contributes to the film with honesty and a sense of folklore-like poetry.

When Zhang made Hero in 2002, he created a role specially for Takakura. But the actor politely declined the invitation, saying he wanted to work with Zhang on a movie that would truly move people. And now he has, and the subtle power he reveals mark him as a true master.
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