This seasons’s final Bowen Island Film Society screening is Riding Alone for Thousands of Miles [Qian li zou dan qi] (2005).  The story and direction are by China's master filmmaker Zhang Yimou, auteur of celebrated back-to-back martial arts epics Hero (2003) and House of Flying Daggers (2004).

Back in my university days, about a hundred years ago, I lived down the block from a small repertory cinema, which meant that I could frequently be found the night before a big deadline in the throes of desperate procrastination, absorbing the likes of Shohei Imamura's ‘Black Rain’, Thomas Vinterberg’s ‘Celebration’, Lars von Triers ‘Zentropa’, or Andrei Tarkovsky’s ‘The Sacrifice’.  Last but not least on this list of unforgettable films was an early Zhang Yimou effort, ‘Red Sorghum’.

Riding Alone for Thousands of Miles represents the fulfillment of a long-cherished dream of Yimou to make a film with his childhood idol Ken Takakura (the supposed ‘Clint Eastwood of Japan’), an iconic yakuza star but also an actor of great range and depth.

For most of the film Yimou works against the wide-open spaces of provincial China, following his middle-aged Japanese protagonist on a seemingly quixotic mission. Unexpectedly called to Tokyo by his daughter-in-law, he learns that his estranged son, a documentary filmmaker, is gravely ill. When the son turns his father away, Takakura decides to travel to rural China to fulfill his son's uncompleted task of filming a renowned folk-opera star performing the heroic opera "Riding Alone For Thousands Of Miles."  It is apparent watching Yimou’s film that in general terms rural China, with its earthiness and ebullience, is symbolically a ‘safe place’ where the Japanese protagonists, who in their personal relationships are emotionally-restrained to the point of near-immobility, can find some kind of catharsis.  I also had the feeling watching this film that there is an entire subtext of meaning – given that it is made by a Chinese director and stars a Japanese actor, and given the troubled and often violent shared history of China and Japan - which is largely unavailable to the western viewer, and which goes a long way to explaining the formality some of the speechifying that goes on.

‘This leisurely, reflective film will please admirers of both the actor and director but will also demand a measure of patience and trust. That's because it risks sentimentality and discursiveness to evoke a more powerful impact than expected. It is not nearly so predictable a picture as it initially seems and emerges as a most eloquent plea for people to dare to express their feelings for their loved ones, particularly fathers for sons.’- Kevin Thomas, LA Times

Riding Alone for Thousands of Miles screens on Saturday, March 31, 2007 at 7:30 pm at Collins Hall. The running time is 1 hour and 48 minutes.  In Mandarin and Japanese, with English subtitles.  Rated PG.  As always, facilities for the hearing impaired will be available.  Bring your own pillow to improve seating comfort.  Doors and concession open at 7 pm.  Reserved tickets are available for film society members only by phoning 604-947-0450 and will be held until 7:15 pm.  Ten percent of all door admissions are donated to the Bowen Island Community Hall and Arts Centre fund.  For further information, Bowen Island Film Society membership forms are available at the Ruddy Potato, VONIGO and the Office at Artisan Square.