This film will put shame to about 98% Chinese movies which were and have been blindly churned out so crazily every year from China. A great film that has deeply moved me endearingly. The most important ingredients that would make a movie so sublimely great did not just rely upon one thing. First of all, the screenplay writer must write it out of his own heart with passion, empathy and having the realistic experience as a parent. So this screenplay to me is a perfect one, and when a good screenplay became a reality by a director who was also that screenplay writer, then the movie got a very good chance to become a great one. So now we got a good screenplay, a good director who was also the screenplay writer, the next important ingredient to make it maintain the goodness was to find right and appropriate cast to make the screenplay become more real and alive. Here again, Andy Lau was approached to play the main character, a father lost his son and had been on the road for over 14 years looking for his kidnapped son.
Here, I have to admit and confess that before watched this film, Andy Lau to me was not a great actor; I often considered him as an over-blown, overly hyped actor without great talent, his images in so many movies were not impressive, albeit a bit pretentious, an actor became famous and popular simply by accident and by luck. But after this film, watching him played this role with his heart, mind and soul; with his micro expressions and his body languages so exquisitely genuine and so natural; with the great make-up works, attire/costume; his natural-grown salt-and-pepper hairdo, his thistle mustache and beard...his screen image was so perfect that had deeply moved me for the whole ongoing from start to the end. A great Oscar worthy performance that only a few Chinese male actors could have reached and achieved. Andy Lau had redemptively gifted himself to finally become a true great actor. Congratulations, Andy! You've finally arrived.
As to the young supporting actor, Boran Jin, who also had proved that he is an up and coming great young actor to be watched. The only thing that I am not quite sure about his role in this film is his way-too-white teeth. A country boy and motorcycle repair young guy, an often depressed young man who knew deep down in his heart that he was a kidnapped person, a guy with such deep loneliness and sorrow, did he still get the urge to brighten up his teeth so unbelievably white? Maybe likely but to me, highly unlikely.
Beautiful camera work! Through the great eyes of the master camera man, we have wonderfully experienced the beauty of China, on the road, an artwork wonderfully done.
Also, very nice soundtrack. The supporting music was just right, very tentative, very sublime and very reserved, accompanied every shot of the film with subtlety, not exaggerated and not pretentious. A wonderful supporting ingredient for a great movie, usually not done quite right by lot of movies.
In summary, this is a great film, a notch higher than "Dearest" in the same genre and subject. Watch it.
