If Riding Alone for Thousands of Miles were an American film, we would probably think of it as an indie, Sundance picture. Broadly, it's about an eccentric man trying to solve a family problem, and eccentric family problems are for whatever reason the subject that indie filmmakers are obsessed with. But it is not an American film, and frankly watching an old idea played out among two cultures I was unfamiliar with is more interesting than seeing the fifth millionth remake of Five Easy Pieces and waiting for the inevitable supporting role from Parker Posey.
The eccentric at the center is a middle aged Japanese man named Takata (Ken Takakura). A widower, he lives by himself on a remote island until he gets a call from his daughter in law Rie (Shinobu Terajima) informing him that his estranged son Kenichi (Kiichi Naki) is dying of liver cancer. Takata immediately rushes to see his son, but Kenichi refuses to see him. Rie gives the father a video of the son's appearance on a Japanese TV show, where he reveals his love of Chinese folk opera. In the clip, Kenichi seems in awe of a regional singer named Li Jaimin (himself), and wants to film the opera Riding Alone for Thousands of Miles, but Jaimin tells him to return another time. Takata sets out on a quest to film the opera in a crazed attempt to bond with his dying son, but discovers that Jaimin is in prison for a bar fight, but that does not stop him. Aided by a translator named Lingo (Lin Qui) who really barely speaks Japanese and phone assistance from a long suffering real translator named Jasmine (Jiang Wen in the Parker Posey role), Takata continues quest to bond with his son, and in doing so tries to help Jaimin be reunited with his.
I have no way of knowing how a Japanese or Chinese audience would respond to this film. I found watching the interaction between Takata and the Chinese fascinating, particularly as the ever polite Jasmine tries in vain to convince him that, really, his plan is nuts. The ridiculous lengths that Takata goes to film the opera are quite funny, because like the best comedy, it is based on a logical response to an illogical situation.
Where I felt the movie wasn't really successful was in the dramatic concerns between the fathers and there sons. Part of the problem is that Takata is such an introverted character, unable due to both his nature and unfamiliarity with the language to express himself, that's its hard to get involved with his plight. Director Zhang also makes an interesting but ultimately unsuccessful choice of only letting us hear Kenichi's voice as opposed to seeing him, which further distances us from the duo. The movie slows way down when Tataka travels to rural China to fetch Jaimin's son, and this point of the movie is a little hard to believe.
Nevertheless, I am recommending this movie for dark, subtle humor and its fascinating look at Chinese culture, and perhaps the greatest compliment I can give it is that it made me genuinely interested in hearing more Chinese folk opera. No kidding.
Riding Alone for Thousands of Miles (2005)