The Road Home

Posted In: Custom Homes

Lavonda Mcgriff says...

This is the best movie i have ever seen in my life.

Zang ziyi is the most beautiful and cute girl in the world.

I dont know the words to describe this movie.

U must see this if u r a fan of Zang ziyi.

She is better in this movie that in Crouchingtiger.

Very sorry ... i am poor in english.

She was fantastic.. amazing..

Wow...

U will cry when u see this 'the road home'. I bet u.

Posted on October 20, 2010

Rosalinda Heaslet says...

"The Road Home" is made by my favorite foreign director around today! I don't count Bergman because he just writes now. ButZhang Yimou, the director of this film, always manages to put such beauty into his films. Probably best known for films like "Not One Less", "Shanghai Traid", "Raise the Red Lantern", & "To Live". "The Road Home" follows in his tradition of making powerful, beautiful films.
I've seen about 60 films this year, and I know that's not a lot when compared to how many critics see. But, I think it's a pretty large amount when compared to the amount that the average movie fan goes to see. From everything I've seen this year, nothing has been able to express the passion of this film! No film has been as tender, poignant, & embarcive as this. I hate to admit this, for it's not really manly, but, I was misty by the end of the film. I've not seen a film that could do that to me in a long time.
Many bash this film saying, there's no story. It doesn't move. There's no point to it. How wrong they are. Of course there's a story to the film. I was watching something all that time lol. It's a very innocent, simple story that captivates it's audience. A young man, Yusheng (Honglei Sun) goes back home after hearing about the death of his father. A local school teacher, who helped build the very same school where he worked. His mother is grief-stricken, understandablely. There's an old tradition that after one dies, one must be brought back to where they lived. Only they must be brought back by foot! Other's must carry the coffin so the person's soul will remember how to get back home. Yusheng mother, will not give in. She demands that the townspeople follow the old tradition. Afterwards, Yunsheng starts thinking about his mother and father, he sees a picture of them taken the day of their marriage. It makes him think about the story of how they met. And, this is where the film starts to take off. Granted, it sounds simple, but, please don't dismiss it. Just think of "The Bicycle Thief". It takes a simple story, and does something with it, many films, no matter how complex their story-line may be can do. "The Road Home" is the same way. It may sound simple, but, give it a chance, trust me, you'll be impressed.
I really, really love this movie. Everything about it seems to fall together in perfect pieces. The music by Bao San is charming. It hits all the romantic and dramatic spots it needed to. The script based on the book "Remembrance" written by Shi Bao, as is the script, is truly wonderful. It carries such heart with it. It makes us care about the characters so much. We can't help but get drawn into their lives. The film did more in 89 minutes then any Hollywood film I saw this year! I know, many people dislike having to read the sub-titles on these type of films, but, please, make an effort to see this one. I think this film will stay with me for a long,long time.

p.s.- This film has already won and been nominated for many awards including; a Sundance Film Festival Award, a Bodil Awards, and a Berlin International Film Festival Award.

Posted on October 21, 2010

Sandi Syndergaard says...

Clean is the autumn wind,

Splendid is the autumn moon,

The blown leaves are heaped and scattered,

The ice-cold raven starts from its roost

Dreaming of you-when shall I see you again?

On this night sorrow fills my heart.



-Li Po (701-762)

Chinese Poet, "Verses"



In a mesmerizing story of love and loss based on Bao Shi's novel: "Rememberance," you will find two hearts. A teacher wanting to give his knowledge to the next generation and a farm girl wanting to share her very soul with the man she loves. This is about how in the winter of a life, the summer is remembered and celebrated.



From the very start of this movie, it will draw you into the intimacy of the most private thoughts of the characters. There are thoughts about life, death, love, loss and loneliness. The contrast of the black-and-white present with the ecstatic color flashback scenes of the past are so sharp, it is almost emotionally overwhelming. Snow drifts across the frozen earth and there are scenes of the bitter cold.



The story is set around the life of a schoolhouse built when two people fall in love. As they age, the schoolhouse also ages and when businessman Luo Yusheng's (Sun Honglei) father dies, the schoolhouse is ready to be rebuilt. He leaves the city and returns to the snowy path leading to the mountain village of Sanhetun in Northern China.



Luo Changyu (Zheng Hao) helped to build the schoolhouse and taught there for almost his entire life. After getting caught in a snow storm, his heart condition is revealed and he is unable to continue raising money for this project. He dies never seeing his dream of the new schoolhouse come true.



Luo Yusheng finds his mother Zhao Di (Zhao Yuelin plays the older Di) weeping at the school. She finally tells her son of her plans to carry her husband back in a coffin on foot. She doesn't want to use a car and so he must employ people from the surrounding villages. As her son takes care of the details, she weaves a funeral cloth for the casket. We are reminded later of why this means so much to her as we think of her innocent face peering through the red threads used to create the cloth hung in the schoolhouse.



The story of the romance between 18-year-old Zhao Di (Zhang Ziyi from Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon plays the young Di) and Luo Changyu is the focus of the movie. They are perhaps in love from the moment their eyes meet. In a world of arranged marriages, this freedom to love is unique. Di has her heart set on Luo from the minute she sees him. She pursues him like an shy animal hunting in the forest. She views him from afar and slowly works her way into his heart. Her pink coat floating between golden leaves as she runs, her anxious heart captured by her gaze.



Each day as the school is built, she brings a dish for him and hopes that he will taste something she has cooked for him. Then as he teaches, she can't resist the sound of his voice. She has to be near him.



When he has to leave to be questioned for political reasons, she has just made mushroom dumplings and so wants him to taste them. While the story is simple, the emotions are complex. You know what the characters are thinking even before they have spoken. You feel their hearts, imagine it is your breath seeping into the cold air like steam or your hands making the mushroom dumplings.



Your heart runs with her to find Luo. And then you cry when the bowl breaks because you feel the intense longing Di feels. You live this story with her, you see love through her eyes, you know she would walk barefoot in the snow if she could just find Luo.



As she waits for Luo to return, we know she is completely in love. She tells him she will wait for him and he promises to return on the 27th. When he fails to return, Di feels she has lost everything unless she goes to find the man she loves.



You will want to cry because this movie is so incredibly beautiful. It is beautiful in its simplicity. Director Zhang Yimou has made one of the most beautiful movies you will ever see. The music by Bao San fills any space you would possible have to draw a breath and escape from being absolutely captured by every scene.



I will gladly read subtitles for a movie this exquisite. This is perhaps the only perfect movie ever made. If you only saw one movie in your life, this should be it. I feel I can hardly describe this movie to you. There are hardly words to tell you how this movie absolutely enchanted me. 100 stars would not be enough.



Like fresh water drawn from the depths of a well, this movie is all consuming in how it refreshes your spirit. It is a drink from the clearest mountain stream. It is pure in its deepest emotions of hope and longing and rich beyond material possessions in the beauty of love.



This movie sets your senses on fire. You hear the crispest of sounds, the "splosh" of water as it is poured back into the well, fresh snow crunching underfoot and the sizzle of food in a wok set over a fire. Your vision is in complete bliss as an aesthetic awareness of nature swirls around you in pictures and sounds in a rural Chinese setting.



Completely Charming in every way.



~The Rebecca Review

Posted on October 21, 2010

Whitley Packwood says...

Eclipsing any romantic comedy or drama from Hollywood in the last 30 years, The Road Home achieves so much by doing very little.Master filmmaker Zhang Yimou successfully captures what it's really like to fall in love for the first time through his use of cinematography (sumptuous as always), unparalleled attention to detail, and, as always, a super strong cast (spearheaded by relative newcomer, the beautiful Zhang Ziyi).Unlike most romance movies, there is no love-making in this film.There is no kissing.The characters show their love through little things that we often take for granted:preparing food, giving small yet meaningful gifts, and other gestures.Like most of Zhang Yimou's films, there is relatively little music, however, the music that is there is perfect.It rises to the occasion when needed and dies down when not.
All of the elements of this film work together like clockwork...better than clockwork.It manages to get its message across more than western romances through uncomparable use of setting and shot framing, costume and make-up, lighting (with some brilliantly-back lit shots of the actors), and figure behavior.
Now about the DVD.This is a film whose setting was meant to be seen only in widescreen.The picture holds up well both in sun-lit outdoor conditions and slightly darker indoor scenes.The voices are set at a nice level and when the score hits its high note, the sound is heavenly...even through a plain Dolby Surround system.
Plain and simple, this is a film which should not be passed up.

Posted on October 21, 2010

Hiedi Francour says...

I saw this movie under the translated name of "My father and mother", as the original Mandarin name "Wo de fu qin mu qin" would suggest. Which is an apt title, because theme wise, it veers around a young man harking back to the romance between a simple village girl (his mother) and the school teacher (his father). Lots of reminiscing, nostalgia, love, sacrifice. The End.

But it is this very simplicity that is stirring. Cinematographically on par with almost anything from Kurosawa, even "Yume", this is an unembellished but heart-warming story of remembering a timeless love. No quixotic melodrama of Hollywood (a la Titanic) here, no elaborate somatic expressions of hugging/kissing/and all else. Indeed, Zhang Ziyi only needs a twitch of an eye or a shy gesture of the hands to convey an entire page of the script.

Doesn't matter whether the story is simple or complex, beautiful or ordinary, Chinese or otherwise -- I'd wager you will definitely come away feeling that you saw a charming, moving vignette of human essence. Fabulous!

Posted on October 21, 2010

Raul Zalewski says...

Last night I was given the opportunity of a private screening of this film. I am not a major movie fanatic, and am jaded by lackluster supposed Hollywood "blockbusters". I also usually shy away from foriegn films with subtitles, rarely giving them a chance - therefore I came into this screening a skeptic. Let me tell you I was more than pleasantly surprised - I was captivated and moved. I was touched by the simplicity and innocent beauty of the story - and mesmerized by the goregous cinematography that did not rely on in-your-face effects but on tried and true, carefully planned blocking/framing that is as subtle as it is powerful.

This simple love story cut straight to the quick of what true love is really about and caused me to look at my own relationships, appreciating them more, realizing what things in life are truly important, and how today's trivial "problems" are not usually meaningful when it comes to the big picture.

I encourage you to see this film if given the opportunity. Don't be fooled by it's seemingly simple message - I believe you too will feel it's depth and appreciate it's beauty.

Posted on October 22, 2010

Lawerence Foskey says...

A man comes home after his father died. His mother refuses to give up the old custom of burial and he has to convince the people in the village to do it. He does it because he realizes his parent's was the perfect love and it is this love story that is told in this stunning movie.

When a new teacher arrives in the traditional village the prettiest girl falls in love and she tries to atract the teacher to her within the boundaries of the Chinese traditions. She always goes to the road to see him come back with his pupils and tries to have a conversation. When the new school is built she hopes he will select the disches she had prepared for the communal feast.

When he is away in town, for a long time, hinting at some political difficulties, she goes to the road every day, rain or shine, until finally he comes back.And then she accepts him, without asking what he has done, but simply content with him being there again, in her home.

What makes this simple tale so outstanding is the way the stunningly beautiful actress Ziyi Zang and the camera/director act like one body. It is so natural, so beautiful, particularly in the setting of the landscapes of rural China that words fail to describe it to the full extent.

One is so captured that the loss of language for those like me who do not understand Chinese having to rely on the subtitles is not a problem at all. The subtle acting and the fine body language underscores every pointy being made.

There is only one thing to do; go out and see it ( probably many times).

Posted on October 24, 2010

Dessie Reents says...

More than anything, The Road Home is a story about understanding.More often than not, someone comes up with a seemingly irrational request - but a deeper examination of the reasons behind such a request leads one to a deeper understanding.This form of research celebrates the one thing that makes us human - our sense of place.The movie, although set in rustic China, has universal implications.A son comes back to his where he grew up to assist his mother with funeral arrangement for his recently deceased father.What follows is a flashback that is a tale of devotion, tradition and love.There is nothing complicated about the plot, the movie is 95 percent Zhang Ziyi and the ephemeral Chinese countryside.What is focused on though, is what makes the story different.When Luo Yusheng (Sun Honglei) comes back to his village, he discovers his aging mother overwhelmed with anguish over the sudden death of her husband - who has been till then, her constant companion (we do not find out about this until later).His mother insists the son and the village arrange that traditional funeral so her husband can take "The Road Home."The village mayor and the son exchange practical consideration, which effectively convinces the viewer that this is not a very practical thing to do. However, as we get into the story we figure out why it is essential that we follow the mother's request.The shift to the black and white footage is pure genius.As mentioned previously, Zhao Di, (Zhang Ziyi), is the young mother who falls in love with the recently arrived teacher Changyu (Zheng Hao). The movie can tell the story by itself.This temptingly pastoral experience does, on occasion, border on the sentimental. However, the significance of taking the road home give one hope that somewhere we can all find our sense of place - our own road home.

Miguel Llora

Posted on October 24, 2010

Hayden Brunnett says...

What Zhang Yimou can do with a hundred grand and a beautiful woman and a camera and landscape is uncanny.Hollywood filmmakers MUST cringe in envy when they watch movies such as The Road Home, because in their high-budget bliss they nor their actors cannot do what Zhang and his cast often do: offer real blood and real tears nakedly.

The majority of Chinese students in China I have spoken to who have seen The Road Home expressed nothing short of disgust for the movie, which I do not find surprising, given their general affinity for all things Arnold. It took hundreds of millions of dollars and Leonardo DiCaprio to convince young people in the Mainland that the complexities of love can be overcome by will alone.So when a low-budget (by American standards) movie is released about a young woman, a schoolhouse in Northern China, a pair of school teachers, and a funeral march - all of which remind them only of things that have become taboo, things they'd like to forget ever occurred - they dismiss it passionately.
Meanwhile, grown men like myself are reduced to tears at the reminder that love can be so torturous, and no less complex in the countryside than in New York City.I am left with two distinct images from that movie: the pottery fixer rambling from village to village in the cold, fixing Di's bowl with spit, staples, and ties; and Di frantically pursuing horse and carriage departing the town.There was never such longing in the world; you never ran like this.

Posted on October 26, 2010

Willodean Treftz says...

Everything is fast these days, Life itself is very fast, these days.I wish we can just sit down peacefully and enjoy a moment's quite elegance.And this is what this movie is. You can't call it slow or boring.That would be disrespectful.Or, I guess you didn't get it.The movie starts in Black and White with a very simple premise.An old woman's determined request to have her dead husband brought home on foot through the road that has been such a part of their lives, so his soul will always know the road home.Simple enough?Actually it turns into a tall order because it is in the dead of winter and there's isn't enough able bodied people to lug the coffin around.But this is just a footnote of the movie.The movie is really about true love that is delicate andunrelenting.It is a classic Zhang Yimou movie.You can tell it is one of hiseven without seeing his name in the credits. It's like looking at a child and knowing who his parents are.Which is a good thing.It is gorgeous to look at. The setting is photographed beautifully and carefully detailed in every shot.The same attention is also given to the actors, specially Zhang Ziyi. Gorgeous scenery, beautiful actors, a simple moving story and there you have it. You can't help but enjoythis movie.

Posted on October 26, 2010