Together with You (2002)

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.

Director:

Kaige Chen

Writers:

Kaige Chen, Xiaolu Xue (as Xiao Lu Xue)

Stars:

Yun Tang, Peiqi Liu, Hong Chen

14 wins & 12 nominations.

Cast

Credited 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
Haiyan Zhang	...	Child's mother

Storyline

Young violinist Xiaochun and his father move from their small, provincial town to Beijing so Xiaochun can audition for a prestiguous music academy. Their new life is unfamiliar but full of promise, allowing the young man to truly figure out which direction he wants to take in life.

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Plot Keywords:

music academy | audition | violin prodigy | prodigy | violin | 

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Taglines:

An impossible dream. An incredible journey. And a boy who holds his destiny in his hands.

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Genres:

Drama | Music

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Motion Picture Rating (MPAA)

Rated PG for mild language and thematic elements

Details

Official Sites:

MGM/UA

Country:

China South Korea

Language:

Mandarin

Release Date:

13 June 2003 (USA)

Also Known As:

Together

Filming Locations:

Beijing, China

Box Office

Opening Weekend USA:

$69,209, 1 June 2003

Gross USA:

$1,151,941

Cumulative Worldwide Gross:

$14,687,167

Company Credits

Production Co:

21 Century Shengkai Film, 21st Century Hero Film Investments, Big Bang Creative

Technical Specs

Runtime:

116 min

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Did You Know?

Goofs

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.

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Quotes

Liu Xiaochun: [in Mandarin] Dad, my back itches.
Liu Cheng: [in Mandarin] Here.

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Alternate Versions

Le virtuose (Quebec French Title)

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Soundtracks

Violin Concerto in D
by Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky

User Reviews

many-layered film reminiscent of Tous les Matins du Monde

This is a wonderful film. On the surface it's about a musically gifted 13 year old boy from the country going with his father to seek fame and fortune. Underneath, it's about hundreds of things. Just like Tous les Matins du Monde it's about music but also about how people lose the love of music through the events that befall them. What I notice about "Together" (He ni zai yi qi) is the theme of ownership -- how it eludes those who seek it in music. The acclaimed music teacher, Professor Yu, reminisces in class on how much he loved music, how his love of Vivaldi flourished during the Cultural Revolution despite the threat he was under. But now at the height of his fame he does not enjoy music any more; he only enjoys power. The boy's other music teacher has lost his love of music by becoming dispirited and his life has become decrepit. But the film has many other themes. It could be about the inarticulacy of adolescence, especially one burdened with impossibly difficult feelings. It could also be an allegory about China. I watched it as "Together" with English subtitles, but one sensed that in Chinese it had other layers of meaning -- the notion of the scholar as venerated in Chinese society, for instance. There are some things not quite realized and the ending is soft-centered, but the acting by the son and especially his father is gripping. It's a film that would repay repeated viewings.