Riding Alone for Thousands of Miles

Riding Alone for Thousands of Miles (2006)

  • 80% of critics liked it
    (75 reviews)

  • 63% of users liked it
    (14,115 ratings)

On the heels of such extravagant historical swordplay epics as Hero and House of Flying Daggers, Mainland Chinese director Zhang Yimou returns to the reins to tell this intimate tale of an aging father who attempts to remedy a longstanding rift with his grown son. Summoned to Tokyo by his… More

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PG,
Directed By
Written By
Yimou Zhang, Jingzhi Zou, zou Jenghi
Genres
Art House & International, Drama
In Theaters
Sep 1, 2006 Limited
Sony Pictures Classics

Critic Reviews

  • Colin Covert, Minneapolis Star Tribune

    The themes are universal (if a touch corny), the rugged Chinese scenery is stupendous, and the performances are touching.

  • Stanley Kauffmann, The New Republic

    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.

  • Richard Nilsen, Arizona Republic

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

  • Desson Thomson, Washington Post

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

  • John Monaghan, Detroit Free Press

    A father takes a spiritual journey from Japan to China to help mend a decades-long rift between himself and his dying son. The lessons learned en route are as profound as they are simple.

Read all 20 critic reviews

See more critic ratings and reviews on Rotten Tomatoes

Fresh (60% or more critics rated the movie positively)

Rotten (59% or fewer critics rated the movie positively)

Featured Audience Ratings

  • Bob S


    Mushy-Mushy.

  • Christopher M


    Just to start off, let's call this the little Asian film that thinks it can. Certainly it does, and it almost succeeds (and does succeed on some levels), and it's awful pretty looking along the way, but it lacks a certain something. In this it reminds me of another recent… More

  • Bruce B


    I'm still trying to figure out, WHY. Why what you ask, why I continue to watch this bloody movie, I mean theres no blood in the movie, just an expression, Guy wandering around trying to do good for his dying son, but tends to piss people off

  • Walter M


    [font=Century Gothic]In "Riding Alone for Thousands of Miles", Takata(Ken Takakura) has been estranged from his son, Ken-ichi, for the past ten years and is living in a remote fishing village. When he gets a call from his daughter-in-law, Rie(Shinobu Terajima), that his son… More

  • Panta O


    This Chinese / Japanese drama film directed by Zhang Yimou and starring Ken Takakura won San Diego Film Critics Society Award as Best Foreign Language Film in 2006 and Best Actor Award (Ken Takakura) and in 2007 Best Asian Film Award at the Hong Kong Film Awards... with a reason! Not… More

Read all 7 featured audience ratings

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