Road Home

Theatrical Release Date: 2001 05 25 (USA - Limited)

UPC: 043396061712

Studio: Columbia TriStar

MPAA Rating: G   Contains:null

Summary: Following on the heels of director Zhang Yimou's Not One Less (1999), which won the top prize at the 1999 Venice Film Festival, comes this sensitively-wrought portrait of a young woman's unshakable love. The film opens in the present, shot in gritty black and white, as businessman Luo Yusheng (Sun Honglei) returns to his hometown in the rural Hebei province to attend the funeral of his father. When Luo suggests that the coffin should be brought home from the hospital on a tractor, his aging mother Zhao Di (Zhao Yuelin) rebuffs him, insisting that they conform to custom and have it carried home by local men. Later, as Luo recalls his parent's courtship, the film switches to color and travels back in time about 40 years. A young, beautiful Zhao Di (Zhang Ziyi) find herself falling for the village's handsome new teacher Luo Changyu (Zheng Hao). As the males in the village join together to build a school for the burg, Zhao Di helps the other women prepare food, waiting patiently to meet the strapping educator. Just as their romance begins, Luo is suddenly ordered to leave by the Communist authorities. As Luo packs up and leaves the village, Zhao Di races hither and thither carrying his favorite steamed dumplings, hoping to catch him before he departs. Though the odds of reunion seem slim, Zhao Di steadfastly holds vigil for her lover until miraculously, Luo returns under the cover of the night only to be once again ordered to the city where he has been commanded to stay. The pair are forced to wait another two years until they can be together. This film won the prestigious Silver Bear at the 2000 Berlin Film Festival and the World Cinema Audience Award at the 2001 Sundance Film Festival; the victories were all the more sweet for the director, as The Road Home was rejected outright from the 1999 Cannes Film Festival, prompting Zhang to angrily withdraw his Not One Less from competition. ~ Jonathan Crow, Rovi

Category: Drama

Awards: World Cinema Audience Award – Sundance Film Festival Silver Bear - Grand Jury Prize – Berlin International Film Festival

Features: Digitally mastered audio & anamorphic video
Widescreen and full-screen presentations
Audio: Mandarin 5.1 [Dolby Digital], French
Subtitles: English, French
Theatrical trailers
Filmographies
Interactive menus
Scene selections

Road Home

Format: DVD

Release Date: 11/27/2001

Aspect Ratio: 2.35:1 Cinemascope

Audio: DD5.1 Dolby Digital 5.1

Runtime: 89 Minutes

Sides: 1

Number of Discs: 1

Language(s) French

Subtitles: English,French

Region: USA & territories, Canada

Chapters: Side #1 --
0. Scene Selections
1. Start [2:22]
2. An Old Tradition [5:01]
3. The Loom [3:14]
4. His Mother's Wishes [4:39]
5. Zhai Di [2:14]
6. The Front Well [1:58]
7. Best Dishes [1:55]
8. Lucky Red Banner [2:32]
9. The New School [1:49]
10. Walking His Students Home [4:14]
11. Basket Ploy [6:02]
12. Meeting Di's Mother [5:12]
13. Goodbye Gift [1:10]
14. "The Teacher's Left." [1:57]
15. Pottery Repair [7:18]
16. Voices in the Wind [3:22]
17. Window Repair [1:53]
18. The 27th [3:18]
19. Going to the City [2:35]
20. A Bad Chill [2:24]
21. "The Teacher Is Back." [:40]
22. Two Years Later [2:34]
23. 5000 Yuan [1:20]
24. The Road Home [3:10]
25. "Rebuild the School." [4:10]
26. One Last Look [:48]
27. "Come With Me." [2:45]
28. Teaching for One Day [2:33]

Jason Clark

Zhang Yimou's gorgeously photographed, richly emotional ode to family is among the most memorable films of his varied career, managing to tell its conventional tale with unconventional wisdom and no shortage of true empathy and heart. Broken up beautifully in stark black-and-white for the modern scenes and a lush colorization in flashback, the movie isn't terribly surprising in its execution, but Yimou's expert realization of the themes the film explores more than compensates. Zhang Ziyi, who made such an indelible impression in 2000's Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon is even more luminous here, in a performance based more on instinct than words, and her beauty is even more captivating, not unlike the starlets of old Hollywood. The film seems rooted in old-fashioned romantic splendor (also not unlike old Hollywood), skillfully blending Eastern idealism and Western ambition into one moving, deeply admirable achievement. It's easy to see why the film took home the Audience Award for world cinema at the 2001 Sundance Film Festival. ~ Jason Clark, Rovi

Cast and Crew: Zhang Zhan  Actor 
Hao Zheng  Actor 
Sun Hong-Lei  Actor 
Zhang Yimou  Director 
Zhang Weiping  Executive Producer 
Bao Shi  Screenwriter 
Yu Zhao  Producer 
Zhang Ziyi  Actor 
Li Bin  Actor 

Country: China