Unpopular opinion: In terms of Chinese directors, I like Zhang Yimou more than I like Ang Lee (I know that Lee is technically Taiwanese, but he is often included in these arguments, so I will include him too). I find the workings of “House of Flying Daggers” and the masterpiece “Curse of the Golden Flower” far more jarring than any of Lee’s work, both his Mandarin-language (If I’m correct, only “Lust, Caution” had any Cantonese in it and even then, it wasn’t spoken much) or his English-language work. Don’t get me wrong, Lee is a fabulous director, one who is incredibly versatile and talented, I’ve just always connected with Zhang’s films on a visual and emotional level more. One thing I see Lee doing more than Zhang though, apart from English-language work, is that Lee branches out and stretches out his range of filmmaking to be versatile and malleable in any film situation. Zhang has always been content in period pieces that stretch the imagination with incredible production and costume design, something that has been completely forgone in Zhang’s new film “Coming Home” (Chinese: 歸來; pinyin: guīlái, or “The Return”)
Okay, so the production design and costume design in “Coming Home” is fabulous just like Zhang’s previous work, but “Coming Home” is a much different film than anything else Zhang has done. “Coming Home” is not a flashy, colorful, martial-arts opera in any form; “Coming Home” is a depressing, yet somehow uplifting look at amnesia, separation and love through the eyes of a family during the Cultural Revolution of China in the 1960s and 1970s. Feng Wanyu, called Yu (Gong Li) is a teacher who’s husband, Lu Yanshi (Chen Daoming), is arrested and taken to a Labor Camp during this time. Over the years, she has been left to care for their now teenage daughter, Dandan (Zhang Huiwen, of no relation to Zhang Yimou), who is a ballet dancer trying for the lead role in “Red Detachment of Women,” but when word leaks that Lu has escaped from prison to return home, Dandan loses out on the part and is devastated. When Yu attempts to find Lu after his escape, he is caught after being turned in by Dandan out of fear of the government. Many years later, when the Cultural Revolution ends, Lu is released and returns home to Dandan and Yu, only to find that Yu has amnesia and does not remember who he is.
Sounds like a rousing time, right? Sure, “Coming Home” isn’t a film that’s ripe with humor and spiritual uplift, but the scenes in which Lu comes to their apartment in a different role each visit only to interact with Yu, is delightfully heartbreaking. Lu loves his wife with a passion and would do anything, even pretend to be someone else, to be near her, even while she waits for her “husband” to return home. Gong, who starred in one of my favorite all-time movies, “Memoirs of a Geisha,” is simply flooring as Yu, a woman who, like Lu, loves her husband with a passion, completely unaware of his presence. Yu becomes a character that all you want to do is hug and share a good cry with, reminiscing on the past, telling stories to her as it were the first time.
“Coming Home” has a completely different aesthetic than that of any of Zhang’s prior films, with a muted color palette and nondescript sets in Beijing, “Coming Home” seems to be a stark opposite from Zhang’s best work, “Curse of the Golden Flower,” which, to this day, still serves as my demo Blu-ray when I want to show how amazing Blu-ray quality can be. This isn’t to say “Coming Home” isn’t gorgeous; even without the color palette and choreographed action, Yimou’s directorial prowess still comes through in this smaller scale film. Think of how Spielberg can direct a film like “Jurassic Park” and then direct a film like “Lincoln” years later and still have every aspect of a Spielberg film, despite being 100 percent different.
I suppose it’s worth noting that yes, “Coming Home” is in Mandarin, with English subtitles. In theaters, this will be your only option of viewing the film, something that people should have no problem with, but alas, I can’t seem to mention any foreign movie without someone complaining about having to read subtitles, as if they’ve never learned to read in school. Beyond the language barrier, the depiction of the society of China in the ’60s and ’70s is absolutely fascinating, as it’s not a time period often covered in film and whenever a film can interest me both thematically and historically, we have a winner.
“Coming Home” won’t win a smile from you, but it will win your heart. The classic story of love will never tire in the eyes of romantics, but unlike your typical Nicholas Sparks film, “Coming Home” wins your heart not through clichés, but from the heartbreaking depiction of marriage and the lengths that one man will go to to preserve the little he has left of his life after being away for so long. Zhang has crafted a much subtler and less vibrant film in “Coming Home,” accurately reflecting the time period it takes place in, but it still has the Zhang brand on it and when a filmmaker can keep his brand in any project, that’s the sign of a master. Let’s get Zhang behind the camera for the live action version of “Mulan” and we’ll get talking.
4/5
Photo courtesy of Sony Pictures Classics
Directed by: Zhang Yimou
Starring: Chen Daoming, Gong Li, co-starring Zhang Huiwen, special appearance by Gui Tao, Liu Peiqi, Zu Feng, Yan Ni, Baiqing Xin, Zhang Jiayi, Chen Xiaoyi, Ding Jiali.
Runtime: 109 minutes
Rating: PG-13 for some thematic material.
Now playing exclusively at the Regal Manor Twin
A Sony Pictures Classics release, Le Vision Pictures Co., Ltd presents, in association with Wanda Media Co., Ltd, Edko Beijing Films Limited, Helichenguang International Culture Media (Beijing) Co., Ltd, Zhejiang Huace Film & TV Co., Ltd, a Zhang Yimou film, “Coming Home”