He ni zai yi qi (2002)

Director:

Kaige Chen

Writers:

Kaige Chen (writer)
Xiao Lu Xue (writer)

Release Date:

14 March 2003 (South Korea)

Genre:

Drama | Music

Tagline:

Some lessons can only be learned by heart.

Plot:

A violin prodigy and his father travel to Beijing, where the father seeks the means to his son's success while the son struggles to accept the path laid before him.

Plot Keywords:

Violin | Violinist | Foundling | Young Boy | Music Teacher

Awards:

9 wins & 7 nominations

Cast

Yun Tang	...	Liu Xiaochun
Peiqi Liu	...	Liu Cheng (as Peiqi Lui)
Hong Chen	...	Lili
Zhiwen Wang	...	Prof. Jiang
Kaige Chen	...	Prof. Yu Shifeng
Qiang Chen	...	Hui
Qing Zhang	...	Lin Yu
Hye-ri Kim	...	Prof. Yu's Wife
Bing Liu	...	Debao
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Chuan-Yuan Li	...	Tang Rong
Ru-Yun Tang

Also Known As:

He ni zai yi qi (China: Mandarin title) (alternative transliteration)
Together (International: English title)
Together with You (UK)

MPAA:

Rated PG for mild language and thematic elements.

Runtime:

116 min | Argentina:117 min

Country:

China | South Korea

Language:

Mandarin

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital

Certification:

South Korea:All | Australia:G (TV rating) | Argentina:Atp | Singapore:PG | Finland:S | Canada:G | Australia:PG

Filming Locations:

Beijing, China

Company:

21 Century Shengkai Film

Goofs:

Continuity: When Lili offers the bank book to Liu Chen, the shot from behind her shows her holding it out to him in both hands. In the next shot from the front, her hands are holding the bank book in her lap.

Soundtrack:

Violin Concerto in D

A beautiful love story between a father and his son.

I didn't have many expectations for this film having long since lost my patience for subtitles and slow-moving foreign films. This film was a very pleasant surprise. A beautifully rendered story about the sacrifices we make for art, the sacrifices parents make for children, and the sacrifices teachers make for their students. I found myself thinking about the larger questions in life as I watched Han ni zai yiki--the struggles of the young protagonist to become a man, the heart-breaking dilemma that allows his father to become one as well, and the ways in which we lose our ways in life, and luckily how the entry of a new love (in its platonic sense) can get us back on the path.

At its center, Han ni zai yiki is the story of a father and his son. Never have I seen this relationship told with such honesty and impact. Instead of a perfect father giving pearls of wisdom to a son eager for his approval, we see an imperfect man doing the best he can for a son who is not necessarily appreciative.

It is sentimental, but that doesn't stop it from being thought-provoking, or from teaching the viewer something he or she is likely to have forgotten in this age of kung-fu special effect sequences and digitized actors.

In the U.S. at least, we've been saturated with ever-dumber plot lines, plasticized breasts, and explosions to emphasize every character realization. It's unusual to go to the cinema to be treated to a real story with complex and realistic characters in difficult situations that actually have some bearing on our lives. Together was a breath of fresh air.

I hope that the negative opinions expressed earlier don't stop anyone from seeing this film. Although I'd waited four years to see the sequel to the Matrix, I'd have to say, without a doubt, Han ni zai yiki is the best film I've seen all year.