A profound example of unashamed feeling expanding across cultural barriers

| Aug 30, 2009

| Original Score: B+ | Oct 29, 2008

This may be one man's story but the themes are epic.

| Original Score: 4.5/5 | Jun 14, 2008

The director fails to overcome a script that ignores the backstory of the characters, and that agonizingly details minor subplots.

| Mar 1, 2007

The story may be sentimental, but Yimou layers it by adding cultural clash to the generational ones.

| Original Score: B | Feb 24, 2007

From real-life opera singer Jianin to travel agent Lin Qiu and youngster Zhenbo Yang, the cast is the genuine article...

| Original Score: B | Feb 16, 2007

...gorgeously photographed and, like Babel, a subtly organized commentary on the ways people strive to communicate.

Full Review | Original Score: 91/100 | Dec 6, 2006

Zhang is one of the world's great filmmakers, both in technique and in his rich humanity. Riding Alone will move you.

| Original Score: 9/10 | Nov 24, 2006

Yeah, yeah. Cue the violin music. But also grab a tissue, because the film levels far more of an impact than you might expect.

| Original Score: 3.5/4 | Nov 23, 2006

Sometimes, when the right movie people come together, a blatantly commercial decision actually strengthens the artistic impulse, as you can see from Zhang's filial treatment of Takakura in Riding Alone for Thousands of Miles.

Full Review | Nov 11, 2006

The scenery is spectacular, and the movie does boast fine performances by both the stone-faced Takakura and scene-stealing newcomer Yang Zhenbo.

| Original Score: 3/4 | Nov 10, 2006

Ken Takakura's memorable performance, occasional light comedy and striking Chinese scenery don't keep Riding Alone for Thousands of Miles and its big message from being ponderous and affected.

| Original Score: 5/10 | Nov 10, 2006

The movie's message is a little too Hallmark Hall of Fame, but Zhang's observant eye neatly captures the idiosyncrasies of Chinese life and the heartbreak in Gouichi's journey.

Full Review | Original Score: 3/4 | Nov 10, 2006

It's the kind of story that shows more than it tells, a story that's forged in the spaces that exist in between characters and spaces.

| Original Score: 3/5 | Oct 30, 2006

A meticulously crafted film in which nothing is ever forced or overstated. There's a grace and subtlety that pervades the film and quietly impresses.

Full Review | Original Score: 9/10 | Oct 28, 2006

Its relentless sentimentality soon turns disingenuous.

| Original Score: 2.5/5 | Oct 27, 2006

Fathers and sons can't understand each other in Riding Alone for Thousands of Miles, a simple theme in a movie that is simply breathtaking.

Full Review | Original Score: 3.5/4 | Oct 26, 2006

What remains most vividly after Riding Alone For Thousands of Miles, however, is not its story but its world--the immersion in that world of a foreigner, not a polo-shirted Yank but a stiff-necked Japanese. And it is all overseen by a Chinese director.

Full Review | Oct 26, 2006

It sounds like a slight plot, and it is, but it is rich in detail that makes up for the simplicity of the story.

Full Review | Original Score: 3.5/5 | Oct 19, 2006

It's a masterful little film, and, thanks to Zhang's seasoned hands, it's subtly heartfelt but never manipulative.

| Oct 19, 2006