Last Train Home (2009) Gui tu lie che (original title)

Director:

Lixin Fan

Genre:

Documentary | Drama

Plot:

A couple embarks on a journey home for Chinese new year along with 130 million other migrant workers, to reunite with their children and struggle for a future. Their unseen story plays out as China soars towards being a world superpower. |

Plot Keywords:

Journey | Chinese New Year | Chinese | Migrant Worker | Financial Crisis

Awards:

8 wins & 3 nominations

Cast

Changhua Zhan	...	Himself
Suqin Chen	...	Herself
Qin Zhang	...	Herself
Yang Zhang	...	Himself
Tingsui Tang	...	Himself

Directed by
Lixin Fan

Produced by
Mila Aung-Thwin	....	executive producer
Mila Aung-Thwin	....	producer
Daniel Cross	....	executive producer
Daniel Cross	....	producer
Bob Moore	....	co-producer
Zhao Qi	....	executive producer

Original Music by
Olivier Alary

Cinematography by
Lixin Fan		(director of photography)

Film Editing by
Yung Chang
Lixin Fan
Mary Stephen

Production Management
Nathalie D'Souza	....	executive in charge of production: TV5 Quebec Canada
Tabitha Jackson	....	executive in charge of production: Channel 4
Bob Moore	....	production supervisor
Justin Rebelo	....	executive in charge of production: SuperChannel
Michael Siu	....	post-production supervisor (as Michael MK Siu)

Sound Department
Nicolas Dallaire	....	foley recordist
Liming Fan	....	sound recordist
Gavin Fernandes	....	sound re-recording mixer
Paul Hubert	....	foley artist
Eric Lagacé	....	foley recordist
Jacques-Alexandre Levesque	....	foley artist (as Jacques Alexandre Levesque)
Isabelle Lussier	....	sound mix assistant
Cory Rizos	....	sound designer
Cory Rizos	....	sound re-recording mixer
Cory Rizos	....	supervising sound editor
Kyle Stanfield	....	adr recordist
Kyle Stanfield	....	dialogue editor

Visual Effects by
Anjet Blinde	....	titles
Xi Feng	....	titles

Camera and Electrical Department
Liming Fan	....	still photographer
Lixin Fan	....	camera operator
Lixin Fan	....	still photographer
Xiangbo Fu	....	assistant camera
Shaoguang Sun	....	camera operator
Weishan Tan	....	camera operator
Weishan Tan	....	still photographer

Editorial Department
Anjet Blinde	....	post-production assistant
Yung Chang	....	editing consultant
Edmund John Duff	....	post-production assistant (as Edmund Duff)
Xi Feng	....	assistant editor
Eric Gaudry	....	colorist
Hannele Halm	....	additional picture editor
Yi Han	....	assistant editor
Francis Hanneman	....	colorist
Michael Siu	....	on-line editor (as Michael MK Siu)
Mary Stephen	....	initial picture editor
Peter Wintonick	....	editing consultant

Music Department
Tim Gowdy	....	music recording engineer
Johannes Malfatti	....	musician

Other crew
Claire Aguilar	....	vice president of programming: ITVS International
Heenan Blaikie	....	legal counsel
Anjet Blinde	....	subtitles
Jérôme Branchet	....	subtitles
Dean Chenoy	....	legal counsel
Christi Collier	....	coordinating producer: ITVS International
Daniel Cross	....	story editor
Wenlong Ding	....	translation
Edmund John Duff	....	subtitles (as Edmund Duff)
Liming Fan	....	transcription
Xi Feng	....	subtitles
Sally Jo Fifer	....	executive producer: ITVS International
Daniela Flori	....	production coordinator
Xiangbo Fu	....	production assistant
Wenwen Han	....	translation
Yi Han	....	production coordinator
Xue Huang	....	translation supervisor
Xue Huang	....	translation
Cynthia Kane	....	program manager: ITVS International
Anuj Khosla	....	production accountant
Anuj Khosla	....	project administrator
Lilian Liu	....	cultural consultant
Naomi Miao	....	translation
Xiaoyu Niu	....	production assistant
Halima Ouardiri	....	marketing supervisor
Halima Ouardiri	....	subtitles
Rock Pinard	....	subtitles
Anne Stulz	....	publicist
Wanyan Sun	....	translation
Jin Wang	....	transcription
Jin Wang	....	translation
Laura Wills	....	book keeping
Man Xie	....	translation supervisor
Jifan Yang	....	translation
Xin Yang	....	transcription

Production Companies

• Eye Steel Film
• Téléfilm Canada
• Rogers Group of Funds
• Société de Développement des Entreprises Culturelles (SODEC)
• Crédit d'Impôt Cinéma et Télévision
• Canadian Film or Video Production Tax Credit (CPTC)
• ITVS (as ITVS International)
• SuperChannel
• Channel Four
• TV5 Quebec
• Canada Council for the Arts (financial support)
• Sundance Institute Documentary Fund (grant)
• Jan Vrijman Fund
• Canwest Hot Docs Completion Fund, The (assistance)
• Yuan Fang Media

Distributors

• Canvas (2010) (Belgium) (TV)
• NHK BS1 (2011) (Japan) (TV)
• Vrijzinnig Protestantse Radio Omroep (VPRO) (2010) (Netherlands) (TV)
• Zeitgeist Films (2010) (USA) (all media)

Other Companies

• Chromatic Audio Montreal  music recording studio

Also Known As:

"Gui tu lie che" - Canada (original title)

Runtime:

85 min

Country:

Canada | China | UK

Language:

Mandarin

Color:

Color

Certification:

Singapore:PG

Filming Locations:

Chongqing, China

Company:

Eye Steel Film

Soundtrack:

Xiaotu Guaiguai

Powerful and poignant documentary

Last Train Home is heartbreaking, incredibly moving, and documentary film-making at its best. Director Lixin Fan forces no comment, political otherwise, as he follows the lives of two Chinese migrant workers over a period of two years. The camera is purely an observer- it's this kind of focused observational film-making that makes this film so moving and poignant.

Reality is bleak for some 130 million Chinese migrant workers who work for long hours sewing clothes in derelict factories and travel huge distances home to their families just once a year during Chinese New Year. The journey is chaotic, brutal, and the physical and emotional toll is high - but the damage it does to families is even greater. Changhua Zhang and Suqin Chen work hard to provide for a more promising future for their children. Their daughter Qin is a lonely and unfulfilled teenager who harbours much resentment towards the parents that have been largely absent from her life. She decides to quit school and become a migrant worker herself, treading that same path that her parents have worked so tirelessly to prevent.

To witness the estrangement and disconnect within the family is heart- wrenching. The camera captures expressions and scenes of humanity that speak volumes of the lifelong ordeal of China's migrant workers. While the country has reaped many benefits from its export-driven economy, it is questionable as to whether the workers, the very engine of this rising prosperity, have seen any margin of fortune themselves.

This is a human story so mercilessly gripping that it should resonate with all. How we live in the western hemisphere is directly interwoven with the lives of people halfway across the world. Last Train Home is a sharp reminder of that. This is a superbly crafted film that you need to watch.