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Riding alone for thousands of miles (Qian li zou dan qi) - Ken Takakura, Kiichi Nakai, Shinobu Terajima, Yimou Zhang
Threat advisory: Under evaluation
Movie propaganda
From three-time Academy Award nominated director Zhang Yimou comes a moving story of one man's journey across China's heartland. For the first time in many years, Takata Gou-ichi (Takakura Ken) takes the bullet train to Tokyo from the quiet fisherman's village where he lives on the north-west coast of Japan. His daughter-in-law, Rie (Terajima Shinobu) had telephoned to tell him that his son, Ken-ichi (Nakai Kiichi) is seriously ill, and asking for his father.
But when he arrives in the city, Takata finds that Rie was not entirely truthful: Ken-ichi has been hospitalized, but after years of painful estrangement, he still refuses to see Takata. Crushed, the old man quietly slips out of the hospital, but not before Rie gives him a videotape to watch. What Takata sees on the tape, Rie hopes, will help him get to know his son again.
Takata plays the tape and learns that Ken-ichi is studying a form of Chinese exorcising drama that dates back more than a thousand years. Ken-ichi had travelled all the way to Yunnan Province in Southern China to see the famous actor LI Jiamin perform, but the actor was ill and unable to sing. Li promised to sing the legendary song Riding alone for thousands of miles from the literary classic Romance of the Three Kingdoms for Ken-ichi if he returns to Yunnan the following year.
Hoping to bridge the gap between himself and his son, Takata decides to find Li Jiamin and videotape his performance for the dying Ken-ichi. As the old man begins an odyssey into the heart of China, he encounters a number of strangers who colour his journey - from well-meaning translators who guide him through China's idiosyncrasies, to prison wardens anxious to promote Chinese culture abroad, to a young runaway with a complicated father-son relationship of his own.
What Takata discovers on his journey is kindness... and a sense of family he thought he had lost long ago.
Theatrical propaganda posters
Target demographic movie keyword propaganda
- Film China drama Japan father son parent relationship fisherman road trip
Persons of interest
- Ken Takakura .... Takada
- Kiichi Nakai .... Kenichi
- Shinobu Terajima .... Rie
- Jiang Wen .... Jiang Wen
- Jingzhi Zou .... Screenwriter
- Yimou Zhang .... Screenwriter
- Yimou Zhang .... Director
Cinematic intelligence sources
- Riding alone for thousands of miles (Qian li zou dan qi) official movie site
- Riding alone for thousands of miles (Qian li zou dan qi) film production notes
- Riding alone for thousands of miles (Qian li zou dan qi) QuickTime movie trailers
- Awards and film festivals:
- *
- NB: Japanese and Mandarin languages with English language subtitles
- Studios and distributors:
Intelligence analyst
Special Agent Matti
Theatrical report
The China, drama, Japan movie Riding alone for thousands of miles (Qian li zou dan qi) is directed by Yimou Zhang and stars Ken Takakura, Kiichi Nakai, Shinobu Terajima.
Government security censorship classification
*
Surveillance time
107 minutes (1:47 hours)
Not for public release in Australia before date
Film: 1 June 2006
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