Customer Reviews

The Road Home

5 star:		(57)
4 star:		(13)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

This is an incomparable film. Many story tellers try to move their audience to reexamine what they thought they knew -- to leave them haunted and deeply touched. Many attempts come off as rather silly and maudlin. Not this film. This film may touch you in a way you didn't think possible.

I urge everyone to not try to discover too much about the specifics of this story -- I recommend you simply watch and let the story unfold. Don't be overly curious about the plot -- anyway, this film is not "about" the plot, it's about being human.

The plot of this film is not important in the same way a Rorshach ink blot is not important. But, like the ink blot, this film will reveal something, possibly much, of what is inside the beholder. This film is about something vital to the human experience, and that something is longing.

It's about a longing to reconnect with a purity of feeling and experience. A longing for simplicity in life, and the kind of love between a man and a woman that fulfills in such a way that is all but forgotten in the modern world, but if the instinct is alive inside you, this film will touch what is dormant, and will awaken it.

Watching this film, you may have laid bare an essential quality of the human experience that before was likely untouched, and undiscovered. To have this done is a deeply emotional experience; it is the meaning of the word "epiphany."

All this is accomplished with simplicity, subtlety, and absolutely, magnificently beautiful filming. The crisp autumn air of northern China, the turning leaves, and the almost exclusive use of the low, late afternoon sun, coupled with backlighting and side-lighting creates a visual masterpiece, and contributes greatly to the emotional masterpiece.

Watch this movie, and find out about yourself, if you dare. Recommend it to your friends, especially your lover, and find out about them, if you dare.

This latest from Zhang Yimou is a gem. It doesn't carry a philosophical weight of his other offerings, but the emotional content and carry of the film is true and beautifully conveyed. Zhang Ziyi, the girl from Ang Lee's 'Crouching Tiger...' is perfectly cast as a stubborn girl who will not give away even an inch to get her love. She plays the part of the narrator's mother to perfection, with equal measure of sweetness, whimsy, and fiery temperament.

The film starts with a man who returns to his backwards village to bury his father. His mother wants him and other people to bring the body back from the hospital on foot, carrying the coffin, so the deceased won't forget his way home. As the man contemplates this decision, he reminisces about the courtship of his mother and father.

The movie is one of the most gorgeously shot films in recent years. You won't forget many of the scenes. The climactic sequence towards the end, when the mother runs toward the school, hearing her son, remembering her dead husband, is stirring and very moving. This is a work of a virtuoso filmmaker.

Zhang Ziyi's performance in "Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon" had me wondering, out of all the stellar cast involved, who this was who had me the most impressed. I researched her filmography and came across "THE ROAD HOME". Mind you, I'm mostly a fight-it-out, special-effects, action movie fan who had my reservations about getting it once I finally found someplace to buy it. I rented first and I had no regrets afterwards.
Great films done properly can tell a simple story and hold the attention of the audience if one chooses to do so. This is a great example. Scenic vistas, compelling acting and a moving story has made this a favorite of my movie collection. Without saying too much (as the previous reviews have already done so), I will recommend at least everyone rent this. It doesn't have a huge budget, no CGI, no gun-toting and no foul language. What does that leave? A movie like they used to make 'em.

OH OH OH OH OH OH OH,MY GOD ,WHAT IS THIS ,I LOVE THIS MOVIE,VERY BEAUTIFUL,THIS IS MY FAVOR,YIMOU ZHANG THE BEST FILM MAKER IN THE WORLD.HE DID A GREAT WORK

ill say it simple, a movie, with not to dialogue, but an exquisite managment of feelings, if you can, see it, highly recomended,

This film begins when a young man returns to the remote village where he grew up. His father has died and his mother has made a request -- that the village men carry him back from the regional hospital on foot according to tradition so that he will alway know his way home. The problem is that there are no young men left in the village, they have all gone to the city. As the young man examines his mother's wishes, he relates the story of his parents' courtship. This is a simple love story that is beautiful and compelling.

DVD extras are few: 5 trailers and filmographies for the director and star. The film can be heard in Mandarin or French, and subtitles are available in English or French.

The Road Home is a movie about a very standard and simple love on the first site story. The beauty is in the great acting and the spirit that comes out of the actors.

I liked a lot to watch how people in such villages live and how they dress and the movie gave attention to many daily events of those people.

Again, the acting is gorgeous, but the values that the movie is showing is great also and the strong bounds in the family is there in the movie and you can see how much the love and respect of a sun would make him do to meet his mothers wishes and how grateful student can be to a teacher gave his life to them.

Another point that I liked in the movie is how the director use color. In the current events, you will see black and white scenes and when flashbacks start the colors will come a life. The old days are better and there was the real life for the characters of this movie not the current days, except for the day the sun took his father's place in the school and start teaching the students of the village.

Great movie that I would love to watch again and again.

This film is a masterpiece and one of few the movies I felt emotionally attached to. The amazing cinematrography captured the beautiful landscape of rural China. The curiousity that lead to an undying passion was simply unforgetable. Zhang Ziyi's character was vibrant even in the depressing winter, however I loved the pink and red jacket she wore throughout-afterall she is the beautiful maiden of the village. Not a whole lot of dialogue between the couple, but the picture speaks for itself. Even pure love can exist when tradional arranged marriages were common, especially during the years of the cultural revolution.

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

This is one of my all-time favourite films. A beautiful and poignant romantic tale set in a remote Chinese village, which tells of an enduring love between two young people in rural China. The emotions are vivid and memorable, this really is an extraordinarily beautiful story - with superb filmmaking and breathtaking scenery.

Can't recommend it enough. I subscribed to a 'World Movie Channel' just so that I could get this film on tape!