Qian li zou dan qi (2005)

User Rating:

7.6/10   

Directors:

Yimou Zhang
Yasuo Furuhata (co-director: Japan)

Writers:

Bin Wang (story)
Yimou Zhang (story)
(more)

Release Date:

22 December 2005 (China)

Genre:

Drama

Plot:

A Japanese father travels to China's Yunnan province in the place of his ailing son to film a famous folk-opera star.

Plot Keywords:

Hospital | China | Japanese | Cancer | Village

Awards:

4 wins & 6 nominations

Cast

Ken Takakura	...	Gou-ichi Takata
Shinobu Terajima	...	Rie Takata
Kiichi Nakai	...	Ken-ichi Takata (voice)
Ken Nakamoto	...	Electrician
Jiamin Li	...	Li Jiamin
Jiang Wen	...	Jasmine
Lin Qiu	...	Lingo
Li Bin Li	...	Director (as Bin Li)
Ziliang Chen	...	Warden Chen
Zhezhou He	...	Village Chief
Zhenbo Yang	...	Yang Yang

Directed by
Yimou Zhang
Yasuo Furuhata		(co-director: Japan)

Writing credits (in alphabetical order)
Bin Wang		story
Yimou Zhang		story
Jingzhi Zou		screenplay
Jingzhi Zou		story

Produced by
William Kong	....	producer (as Bill Kong)
Jian Xiu	....	producer
Weiping Zhang	....	producer
Yimou Zhang	....	producer
Zhenyan Zhang	....	associate producer

Original Music by
Wenjing Guo

Cinematography by
Xiaoding Zhao		(director of photography)

Film Editing by
Long Cheng

Production Design by
Li Sun

Makeup Department
Mitsue Sato	....	makeup artist: Japan
Fumi Takeshita	....	hair stylist: Ms. Terajima, Japan
Fumi Takeshita	....	makeup artist: Ms. Terajima, Japan
Xiaoxi Yu	....	assistant makeup artist

Production Management
George Awburn	....	supervising editor: Digital Pictures
Tianhui Ge	....	production manager
Xinming Huang	....	assistant unit manager
Takahiro Kawada	....	production manager: Japan
Atsuo Kikuchi	....	unit manager: Japan
Jane Maguire	....	post-production supervisor
Akira Morishige	....	unit manager: Japan
Lun Pu	....	production manager
Kerri Schwarze	....	post-production supervisor: Complete Post
Ken'ichi Yamada	....	unit manager: Japan (as Kenichi Yamada)

Second Unit Director or Assistant Director
Lulu Fu	....	assistant director
Yasuo Furuhata	....	director: Japan
Toshimasa Miyamura	....	assistant director: Japan
Ellen Wei	....	assistant director
Xiguo Wu	....	assistant director

Art Department
Zhongshan Guo	....	assistant art director
Zhongquan Hu	....	set dresser
Yasuo Kashima	....	assistant set dresser: Japan
Chieko Kashiyama	....	assistant art director: Japan
Mu Ke	....	property master (as Ke Mu)
Minglai Li	....	assistant set dresser
Yuping Liu	....	props assistant
Yukiharu Seshimo	....	assistant art director: Japan
Taichi Utsunomiya	....	props assistant: Japan
Takaichi Wakamatsu	....	production design: Japan
Geming Wang	....	assistant set dresser
Wenyi Wang	....	props assistant
Takeshi Yanagisawa	....	props assistant: Japan
Min Yang	....	props assistant
Shuping Yao	....	set dresser
Quanrong Yu	....	assistant set dresser
Chaochen Zhang	....	assistant set dresser
Lisen Zhang	....	assistant set dresser

Sound Department
Cao Huijun	....	location sound assistant (as Huijin Cao)
Qianqian Ke	....	foley artist: Soundfirm Beijing Co. Ltd.
Takashi Kuno	....	sound assistant: Japan
Jing Li	....	sound post-production coordinator: Soundfirm Beijing Co. Ltd.
Xu Liu	....	location sound assistant
Huija Mo	....	sound effects editor: Soundfirm Beijing Co. Ltd.
Jiajia Mok	....	sound effects editor
Andrew Neil	....	sound effects editor: Soundfirm Australia
Zeliang Niu	....	location sound assistant
Paul Pirola	....	sound effects editor: Soundfirm Australia
Paul Pirola	....	sound mixer: Soundfirm Australia
Teiichi Saitô	....	sound designer: Japan
Roger Savage	....	sound supervisor: Soundfirm Australia
Ye Shu	....	sound effects editor: Soundfirm Beijing Co. Ltd.
Blair Slater	....	foley artist: Soundfirm Australia
Jing Tao	....	sound designer
Jing Tao	....	supervising sound editor: Soundfirm Beijing Co. Ltd.
Hoa Tu	....	foley artist: Soundfirm Beijing Co. Ltd.
Terry Tu	....	foley artist
Mario Vaccaro	....	foley artist: Soundfirm Australia
Yuhong Wang	....	supervising sound editor: Soundfirm Beijing Co. Ltd.
He Wei	....	sound effects editor: Soundfirm Beijing Co. Ltd. (as Wei He)
Zhida Wei	....	sound post-production coordinator: Soundfirm Beijing Co. Ltd.
Jing Xiao	....	second sound assistant
Jing Xiao	....	sound effects editor: Soundfirm Beijing Co. Ltd.
Fan Xie	....	sound technician: Soundfirm Beijing Co. Ltd.
Masahito Yano	....	sound assistant: Japan
Hui Zhang	....	sound technician: Soundfirm Beijing Co. Ltd.
Zhigang Zhang	....	first sound assistant

Visual Effects by
Clayton Bell	....	digital data management: Digital Pictures
Terence Cheng	....	3D animator/compositor: Asia Legend Limited
Bessie Cheuk	....	visual effects controller: Asia Legend Limited
Manny Espino	....	digital technical director: Digital Pictures
Fiona Fry	....	digital intermediate producer: Digital Pictures
Ron Korpi	....	digital data systems: Digital Pictures
Ringo Lee	....	3D animator/compositor: Asia Legend Limited
Eric Leung	....	3D animator/compositor: Asia Legend Limited
Leo Lo	....	visual effects producer: Asia Legend Limited
Florian Martin	....	consulting digital technical director: Digital Pictures (as Florian 'Utsi' Martin)
Ross Mitchell	....	optical effects: Cinevex Film Laboratories
Peter Peric	....	digital technical assessment: Digital Pictures
Graeme Pitt	....	digital data supervisor: Digital Pictures
Tony Poriazis	....	film recording supervisor: Digital Pictures
Sarah Robertson	....	image repair and negative dirt removal: Digital Pictures
Henny Van Teyfingen	....	digital technical support: Digital Pictures
Lisa Ying	....	3D animator/compositor: Asia Legend Limited
Donald Yip	....	3D animator/compositor: Asia Legend Limited

Camera and Electrical Department
Hajime Baba	....	assistant camera: Japan
Xiaoyan Bai	....	still photographer
Jinxiang Cao	....	electrician
Junfei Cao	....	electrician
Yuan Chen	....	generator operator
Hikaru Chikamatsu	....	electrician: Japan
Liang Cui	....	camera assistant
Hiroyuki Futami	....	coordinator: lighting equipment, Japan
Shiyi Gao	....	assistant electrician: Japan
Wei Jia	....	grip
Tsuyoshi Kage	....	electrician: Japan
Hongying Kang	....	electrician
Keiji Kato	....	electrician: Japan
Takayuki Kawabe	....	electrician: Japan
Daisaku Kimura	....	director of photography: Japan
Takumi Kobayashi	....	electrician: Japan
Yuan Liang	....	grip
Shigeru Ohki	....	still photographer: Japan
An Ran	....	digital video assist operator (as Ran An)
Kaoru Saito	....	gaffer: Japan
Muneyoshi Sajaue	....	assistant camera: Japan
Xueyuan Shi	....	generator operator
Dehua Song	....	assistant camera
Mingliang Sun	....	electrician
Tsutomu Takada	....	assistant camera: Japan
Yu Wang	....	electrician
Ze Xie	....	assistant camera
Ou Xu	....	lighting designer
Kosuke Yamada	....	assistant camera: Japan
Qianbin Yang	....	video assist operator
Cunhua Zhang	....	electrician
Cunyou Zhang	....	electrician
Nan Zhang	....	camera assistant
Chuncheng Zhao	....	camera assistant
Xianwen Zhao	....	camera assistant
Xianzhang Zhao	....	electrician

Casting Department
Hoei Project	....	extras casting: Japan (as Project Hoei)

Costume and Wardrobe Department
Jin-Hua Gu	....	costumer
Tomoko Suzuki	....	stylist: Ms. Terajima, Japan
Kyoko Takahashi	....	costumer: Japan
Jianghong Zhou	....	assistant costumer

Editorial Department
Ian Anderson	....	laboratory post-production manager: Cineves Film Laboratories
Billy Browne	....	editing assistant: Australia
Paul Cross	....	negative matching supervisor: Cinevex Film Laboratories
Kerry Dibbs	....	post-production assistant
Franco Diciero	....	negative matcher: Cinevex Film Laboratories
John Fleming	....	digital intermediate project manager: Digital Pictures
Ling Geng	....	post-production coordinator
Alan Hansen	....	digital grader
Adrian Hauser	....	senior colorist: Complete Post
Akimasa Kawashima	....	editor: Japan
Rachel Knowles	....	digital intermediate coordinator: Digital Pictures
Eugene Leonello	....	negative matcher: Cinevex Film Laboratories
Stanley Lopuszanski	....	colorist: Digital Pictures
Leigh Segal	....	post-production facilities manager: Complete Post
Chieko Suzaki	....	assistant editor: Japan
Caroline Whiteley	....	color grader
Ligen Zhao	....	assistant editor

Music Department
Wei Chen	....	musician: percussion
Ross Cockle	....	score remix engineer: opening and closing titles
Ya Dai	....	musician: flute
Sida Guo	....	musician: midi
Xiaopei Li	....	music recordist
Fei Song	....	musician: zhong hu
Sha Yuan	....	musician: string
Quansheng Zhang	....	musician: ma tou qin
Jiazhen Zhao	....	musician: gu qin

Transportation Department
Masanobu Amemiya	....	transportation: production, Japan
Koji Sekiguchi	....	transportation chief: Japan
Mitsunobu Tono	....	transportation: cast, Japan

Other crew
Lesley Aitkin	....	script services: post-production
Tom Alper	....	insurance: Speare and Company
Jia Cui	....	assistant to director
Yexin Fan	....	catering assistant
Howard Frumes	....	legal services: Alexander, Nau, Lawrence & Frumes
Pamela Hammond	....	client liaison: Digital Pictures
Katsuko Hatayama	....	production assistant: Japan
Zhihua Hou	....	assistant to director
Wenrui Jia	....	caterer
Xiaowei Kang	....	accountant
Tomoko Katahara	....	production assistant: Japan
Emi Kawano	....	script supervisor: Japan (as Emi Kawano)
Gao Ke	....	production assistant (as Ke Gao)
Shiro Kido	....	talent manager
Takahiro Komura	....	assistant to director: Japan
Mingna Liu	....	accountant
Yinghui Li	....	assistant to director
Chris Lu	....	subtitles: English
Dan Lu	....	script supervisor
Sasha Luo	....	documentary filmmaker
Atsushi Naito	....	legal services: Aoyama Law Offices
Youko Nakagawa	....	translator: Japanese script
Kaoru Nakamura	....	production coordinator: Japan
Guanghe Ni	....	second production assistant
Liwei Pang	....	assistant to director
Li'an Qin	....	interpreter
Toshifumi Shimizu	....	assistant to director: Japan
Zhao Shufen	....	accountant (as Shufen Zhao)
Shuo Tian	....	production interpreter
Zhaojun Tian	....	accountant
Bin Wang	....	story consultant
Jianguo Wang	....	second production assistant
Gang Xu	....	location production assistant
Xiaoshun Xu	....	production assistant
Cloudy Yang	....	translator: English script
Li Yanlong	....	catering assistant (as Yanlong Li)
Alice Yeung	....	production coordinator
Yefei Yin	....	interpreter
Xiangchun Zeng	....	location production assistant
Jihu Zhang	....	catering assistant
Jingsheng Zhang	....	chief interpreter
Jingsheng Zhang	....	subtitles: Japanese
Xuemei Zhang	....	accountant
Darian Zhao	....	second production assistant
Ping Zhou	....	physical therapist
Jiajun Zhu	....	second production assistant
Renqiao Zuo	....	location production assistant

Production Companies

• Beijing New Picture Film Co.
• China Film Co-Production Corporation (in collaboration with)
• EDKO Film
• Elite Group Entertainment
• Gilla Company
• Toho Company
• Zhang Yimou Studio

Distributors

• Cathay-Keris Films (2006) (Singapore) (theatrical)
• Sony Pictures Classics (2006) (USA) (theatrical) (subtitled)
• Toho Company (2006) (Japan) (theatrical)
• Axiom Films (2006) (UK) (all media)
• Columbia TriStar Films de Argentina (2007) (Argentina) (all media)
• LK-TEL (2007) (Argentina) (DVD)
• LK-TEL (2007) (Argentina) (VHS)
• Sony Pictures Home Entertainment (2007) (Brazil) (DVD)

Special Effects

• Asia Legend (digital visual effects)
• Optical & Graphics (graphics and subtitles)

Other Companies

• Alexander, Nau, Lawrence & Frumes  legal services
• Aoyama Sogo Law Office  legal services (as Aoyama Law Offices)
• Atlab  film scanning and recording bureau
• Beijing Century Movie & Film Co.  film stock supplied by
• China National Symphony Orchestra  orchestra
• Cinerent  camera and lighting equipment supplied by
• Cinevek Film Laboratories  film processing and post laboratory (as Cinevex Film Laboratories)
• Complete Post  telecine transfers
• Digital Pictures  digital intermediate services
• Soundfirm Beijing Co. Ltd.  sound post-production
• Soundfirm  sound post-production
• Speare & Company  insurance
• Toho Pictures Inc.  production services: Japan

Also Known As:

Riding Alone (International: English title) (informal short title)
Riding Alone for Thousands of Miles (USA) (new title)
Tanki, senri o hashiru. (Japan)

MPAA:

Rated PG for mild thematic elements.

Runtime:

107 min

Country:

Hong Kong | China | Japan

Language:

Mandarin | Japanese

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital

Certification:

USA:PG | Singapore:PG | Malaysia:U | Sweden:Btl | Singapore:M18 (DVD rating) | Argentina:Atp | Australia:PG | South Korea:All | Iceland:L

Filming Locations:

Lijiang, Yunnan Province, China

Company:

Beijing New Picture Film Co.

Trivia:

The scenes filmed in Japan were directed by Yasuo Furuhata. He has had a long successful collaboration with lead actor Ken Takakura.

Goofs:

Continuity: In the village scene Mr. Takata has to move to the highest location to make a phone call. In the following scene however he can receive phone calls while at a banquet in the lower part of the village.

The Ride of a Lifetime from Zhang Yimou

Good films depict feelings truthfully; with great works of art, you experience emotions deep within yourself. Zhang Yimou's "Riding Alone for Thousands of Miles" is not only a three-hankie movie, it may leave you with a sense of being changed, of being connected to others in new ways. It is that powerful, that important a work.

"Only connect" - E.M. Forster's imperative for creating ties - is at the heart of Zhang's new film, but with a twist. Takata, the central character, is an elderly Japanese, seemingly unconnected to anyone, a man with a frozen face and heart, long estranged from his only son, who has now fallen gravely ill. Ken Takakura, one of the most majestic actors alive (an ideal - perhaps the only - Lear around), is Takata, his uncommunicative, stony presence compelling attention and generating a mix of apprehension and pity.

Takata's journey to China's Yunnan province to complete his son's filming of the legendary song "Qian li zou dan qi," that gave the film its title, is full of twists and turns. Zhang tells the story with honesty, integrity, and Parsifal's "wisdom through compassion." In a brilliant stroke, Zhang opens and closes the film with the same scene - Takata, motionless, gazing over the confluence of gray sea and sky - but he, along with the audience, is in a completely different place, the unchanged exterior masking a person richly transformed by daring, risk-taking humanity.

Zhang, a master of producing a variety of genres and styles, put everything into this work (except the wushu grandeur of "Hero" and the upcoming "Curse of the Golden Flower") - the broad sweep of "Raise the Red Lantern," the chamber music of "The Road Home," the joyful melodrama of "Happy Times," and a dozen other works.

"Riding Alone" is adventure, psychological drama, a "quest film," unveiling spectacular vistas and the deep divisions/underlying connections between individuals and civilizations. And yet, through all this, "Riding Alone" is all of one piece, a grand novel in tightly connected (but ever-surprising) chapters, a 19th century literary saga in a 21st century setting.

If the film were presented in a series of silent close-ups of Takakura, it would be glorious enough, but the bonus is an army of non-professional actors, in addition to the magnificent Shinobu Terajima as Takata's daughter-in-law; Qiu Lin as Lingo, the would-be interpreter; Jiang Wen as Jasmine, the accomplished translator; Yang Zhenbo as Yang Yang, an amazing child star in a pivotal role; and Chinese-opera star Li Jiamin as himself.

If you're looking for a detailed story line, you will not find it here. Why would you deny yourself the pleasure of being taken along on a superb, heartwarming ride of surprise and discovery?