"Riding Alone for Thousands of Miles" is about a Japanese man, Takata, who travels to China to film a masked folk opera for his estranged son, who is dying of cancer. Father and child have grown extremely distant since the death of Takata's wife when the son was younger. Takata has closed himself off from the world, including his own son, and isolates himself to a small fishing village. Takata travels to Tokyo to visit his son in the hospital, at the insistence of his daughter in law, but his son refuses to see him. After learning of his son's love for Chinese folk operas and fatal diagnosis, Takata takes it upon himself to travel to China to film a particular opera singer performing a particular opera for his son--an opera and singer the son intended to return and see the following year.
Of course, things are not that simple. The opera singer is in jail and the Chinese government isn't too keen on foreigners filming inside of their prisons. First Takata is stuck in a bureaucratic mess, then he has to go looking for the singer's illegitimate son in a remote village so that he will sing, all while his daughter and law keeps pressing him to return and see his son before he dies. The plot, while somewhat interesting, is rather predictable, especially at the end. But this is hardly some plot driven thriller or fantastical martial arts movie. This is a film about communication and alienation.
First, the simple language and cultural barriers are a struggle for Takata. Westerners tend to group Asian cultures together as on giant, cohesive civilization, but this film proves that all these Asian countries are anything but. Takata seems completely helpless, at the mercy of his guide (who barely speaks a word of Japanese) and the rest of the Chinese citizens. Cultural differences are made abundantly clear. Takata is extremely reclusive and has trouble expressing his emotions and feelings, whereas the Chinese characters are much more open with themselves and with each other.
Another aspect of the film I particularly enjoyed was Takata's attempts to learn about his son. He would ask his guide and the rest of the people in the area what his son was like, believing they were friends because of his son's frequent trips to the village. What he learns is that he son was just as quiet and reclusive as he is, detached from society. A bittersweet moment: to finally, after all these years of not speaking, learn things about his son and find out who he was and what he was like, only to find out he was the same as his father, a quiet and lonely recluse, unable to open up to the world.
Some of the best moments of the film come when Takata visits the remote village to find the son of the jailed opera singer. Takata seems to open up and connect with this boy in a way he was never able to with his own son. Overall, this is a beautiful film. The running theme is alienation and the lack of communication amongst people, notably Takata and his son. The characters are engaging and its amazing to watch the attempted communication between people at various levels of human relations.
Of course, things are not that simple. The opera singer is in jail and the Chinese government isn't too keen on foreigners filming inside of their prisons. First Takata is stuck in a bureaucratic mess, then he has to go looking for the singer's illegitimate son in a remote village so that he will sing, all while his daughter and law keeps pressing him to return and see his son before he dies. The plot, while somewhat interesting, is rather predictable, especially at the end. But this is hardly some plot driven thriller or fantastical martial arts movie. This is a film about communication and alienation.
First, the simple language and cultural barriers are a struggle for Takata. Westerners tend to group Asian cultures together as on giant, cohesive civilization, but this film proves that all these Asian countries are anything but. Takata seems completely helpless, at the mercy of his guide (who barely speaks a word of Japanese) and the rest of the Chinese citizens. Cultural differences are made abundantly clear. Takata is extremely reclusive and has trouble expressing his emotions and feelings, whereas the Chinese characters are much more open with themselves and with each other.
Another aspect of the film I particularly enjoyed was Takata's attempts to learn about his son. He would ask his guide and the rest of the people in the area what his son was like, believing they were friends because of his son's frequent trips to the village. What he learns is that he son was just as quiet and reclusive as he is, detached from society. A bittersweet moment: to finally, after all these years of not speaking, learn things about his son and find out who he was and what he was like, only to find out he was the same as his father, a quiet and lonely recluse, unable to open up to the world.
Some of the best moments of the film come when Takata visits the remote village to find the son of the jailed opera singer. Takata seems to open up and connect with this boy in a way he was never able to with his own son. Overall, this is a beautiful film. The running theme is alienation and the lack of communication amongst people, notably Takata and his son. The characters are engaging and its amazing to watch the attempted communication between people at various levels of human relations.