Wo de fu qin mu qin (1999)

Prompted by the death of his father and the grief of his mother, a man recalls the story of how they met in flashback.

Director:

Yimou Zhang

Writers:

Shi Bao (novel), Shi Bao (screenplay)

Stars:

Ziyi Zhang, Honglei Sun, Hao Zheng

15 wins & 6 nominations.

Cast

Cast overview:
Ziyi Zhang	...	Zhao Di, Young (as Zhang Ziyi)
Honglei Sun	...	Luo Yusheng (as Sun Honglei)
Hao Zheng	...	Luo Changyu (as Zheng Hao)
Yulian Zhao	...	Zhao Di, Old (as Zhao Yulian)
Bin Li	...	Grandmother
Guifa Chang	...	Mayor, Old
Wencheng Sung	...	Mayor
Qi Liu	...	Carpenter Xia, Old
Bo Ji	...	Carpenter Xia
Zhongxi Zhang	...	Crockery Repairman

Storyline

City businessman Luo Yusheng returns to his home village in North China for the funeral of his father, the village teacher. He finds his elderly mother insisting that all the traditional burial customs be observed, despite the fact that times have changed so much, and that it involves many people carrying his father's body back to the village - the road home. As Yusheng debates the complications involved in organising such a big feat, he remembers the magical story of how his father and mother first met and got together.

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Plot Keywords:

village | teacher | burial | flashback | death | 

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Genres:

Drama | Romance

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Certificate:

G

Details

Official Sites:

Sony Pictures Classics [us]

Country:

China

Language:

Mandarin

Release Date:

16 October 1999 (China)

Also Known As:

The Road Home

Box Office

Opening Weekend:

$75,368 (USA) (25 May 2001)

Gross:

$1,280,090 (USA) (26 October 2001)

Company Credits

Production Co:

Columbia Pictures Film Production Asia, Guangxi Film Studio

Technical Specs

Runtime:

89 min

Sound Mix:

Dolby SR

Color:

Black and White Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

Filmmaker Yimou Zhang has said that this film was his tribute to and heavily influenced by the work of Iranian filmmaker Abbas Kiarostami.

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Quotes

Zhao Di, Young: I'll be waiting for you.

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Connections

References Titanic (1997)

User Reviews

Just saw it...loved it

OK, just saw it and read some reviews here. Thought I give a little input from my perspective. I came back from a good workout. Did some heavy bag training probably punched enough to knockout one hundred grown men. OK granted bags don't punch back or imply that I could last even one round against a pro but just to show that I'm no baby. I rarely cry if ever ;) Can't remember the last time I did at least. Well this night I cried like a little baby in this one. Can't put my hand around why either. Maybe it's the Oscar worthy performance from the beautiful actress Zhang Ziyi. Her performance pulled me in with her acting, her beautiful face, images of her braided pig tail hair flapping in the wind as she cutely trotted down the dirt path, her mandarin youthful voice and so on and so on. Or it could be what I think got to be the most stunning natural scenery I have ever seen captured in cinema. Spring, summer, fall, winter like the natural flow of life itself. Or it could be Zhang Ziyi IN the beautiful stunning scenic back drop that did it. Maybe it could be the music, the serene nostalgic music that strikes the chord in my heart. One reviewer put it Celtic like with Chinese flavor. But you guessed it, it's all the combination of the above weaved(pun intended for those who saw the movie) into such a simple, pure story of love and innocence. The story is simple yes but in the simplicity lies the complexity that is life. If I sit to examine the movie, I could write a thesis on lessons learned from watching this movie or more correctly lessons I already know from living but are brought out to the forefront from watching this movie. As a reviewer, I am opinionated and as such my view is always right unless shown otherwise. I'm a reasonable man after all. So for those who say it's too simple...idiots. You haven't reflected enough. For those who say the stories have been filmed time and time before and just a rehash...morons. Watch the movie again and talked to the idiots who have reflected enough. For those who thinks it's too slow or no action...schmuck get help for your ADD and then talk to the morons who talked to the idiots. OK don't take my criticism too seriously it's all in good humor. To each your own opinion. I care not to dive into the complexity of this movie. I neither have the time nor the motivation to write a long, long review. It's a very good movie to just enjoy and savor after getting bombarded with today's Hollywood pyrotechnics, special effect movies (titanic cough cough). And maybe you will be able to find complexity and truth in this simple little gem of a movie.