Riding Alone for Thousands of Miles (2005)

Zhang Yimou's "artisan film" is back after several ventures in studio-blockbuster productions. Here are some topics I would like to comment on in the near future regarding this film:

1) Zhang's exceptional ability as a native Chinese artist to depict "Chineseness" with both compassion & a didactic "objectivity". This may be the essence of his auteurism.

2) His motifs and parallels in this film; the communication between persons (kinsmen) through a proxy (translator) in Chinese & Japanese cultures and the parallel of the China-story.

3) The depiction of a prison in China.

4) The depiction of Yang Yang's refusal to meet his father & the Chief's persistent verbal coercion; this is characteristic of the workings of a Chinese family.