Riding Alone for Thousands of Miles [2005] (REGION 1) (NTSC) | ![Riding Alone for Thousands of Miles [2005] (REGION 1) (NTSC)](http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/51qvVHSTQLL._SL160_.jpg)
 enlarge | Directors: Yasuo Furuhata, Yimou Zhang
Actors: Ken Takakura, Kiichi Nakai, Shinobu Terajima, Ken Nakamoto, Jiamin Li
Studio: Sony Pictures
Category: DVD
Buy New: £6.38
New (17) Used (2) from £5.75
Rating:  2 reviews
Sales Rank: 103947
Format: Ac-3, Closed-captioned, Colour, Dolby, Dubbed, Dvd-video, Subtitled, Widescreen, Ntsc
Languages: Cantonese Chinese (Original Language), English (Subtitled), Spanish (Subtitled), French (Subtitled), Portuguese (Subtitled), Chinese (Dubbed), French (Dubbed), Portuguese (Dubbed)
Region: 1
Aspect Ratio: 1.85:1
Number Of Discs: 1
Running Time: 107 Minutes
Shipping Weight (lbs): 1
Dimensions (in): 7.1 x 5.4 x 0.6
MPN: COLD16585D
UPC: 043396165854
EAN: 0043396165854
ASIN: B000KX0IPE
Theatrical Release Date: 2005
Release Date: February 6, 2007
Availability: Usually dispatched within 1-2 business days
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| Customer Reviews:
 Riding to depression July 21, 2007
John Eyon (Seattle - USA)
0 out of 1 found this review helpful
If you visit the American Amazon.com website and check out the reviews for this movie there, you'll find (as of this date) eight 5-star reviews, one 4-star review -- and my lone, heavily battered 2-star review.
Simply stated, I found RIDING ALONE sickening. Let me list the ways.
Ken Takakura's repressed persona isn't someone I want to follow for the length of a quiet drama.
Many of the Chinese cast are unrained actors. I noticed -- and I don't speak Chinese! But that, in itself, wasn't fatal.
The story includes an honest depiction of translation difficulties. That served to drag down the storytelling.
I don't mind slow-moving films, but the story has to be interesting or its pacing becomes unbearable. That's what this film was.
Zhang Yimou's color palette is more restained here than in his recent martial arts films (which is good), but I didn't find the result entirely pleasing (yet the photography did eke out the 2 stars I gave this film).
Most unpleasant of all were the showing of normally hidden body functions: a cascade of snot from a crying man's nose, and a young boy squatting to relieve himself (that was supposed to be a profound moment, too).
That's my warning.
 A nice Journey to the heart of China June 25, 2007
Jenny J.J.I. (That Lives in Northern Nevada)
1 out of 1 found this review helpful
I've fine this to be an interesting film. Many films have played our emotions like a full orchestra: "The Shawshank Redemption," "I Am Sam," "Titanic." But with "Riding Alone," writer and director Zhang Yimou (Hero, House of Flying Daggers) trades formulaic sentimentality for a sensitive, raw and genuinely moving film about human relationships.
Gou-ichi (Takakura Ken) is the stoic Japanese father who may remind us of our own emotionally inept dads. After his dying son refuses to see him, he sets off on a journey to China's Yunnan province to film a famous opera singer, Li Jiamin, whom his son had not managed to film while on an assignment there. He does this hoping that somehow, his son--a lover of Chinese folk culture--might feel happier.
It turns out to be quite an ordeal, with setbacks ranging from language barriers, bureaucratic red tape, right to the fact that Li is now in prison. All this makes for an engaging conundrum as the perplexity of human behavior unfolds. On a broad scale, we see a nation grappling with the aftermath of communism; their insecurities, search for identity and national pride. Then on a personal level, we have the translator who exceeds her scope of duty to be kind; the daughter-in-law who lies to protect the family; the prisoner mouthing reform slogans who breaks down at the sight of his bastard son.
Gou-ichi's lonely journey takes place against a breathtaking backdrop of rural China and its folk culture, caught masterfully by Zhang. Indeed, Zhang's joy in filming Riding Alone is obvious; the film is full of visual affections, delightful parallels and symbolisms that outweigh and outshine the average tearjerker. The entire cast, made up of non-actors, shamelessly gives us the real deal and an occasionally hilarious performance to boot.
At the end of his long journey, Gou-ichi concludes, "Loved ones should not mask their feelings for each other." His words reverberate like the old gong. What our most significant relationships need is a self-denying, honest communication of love. We can't barter this with cute MMSes and love song radio dedications that dissipate when we don't get our way. In the most sacred spaces of our hearts lies an ugly beast called Pride, who must die before it is too late. In a cold cinema of strangers, Riding Alone embraces each one of us, despite our wretched past, and helps us let go.
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