Food and Flciks:
Foreign film brings home culture, tradition, romance
Tiny Spicy Chicken and The Road Home

by Bonnie Barlow
Scroll Staff

With an estimated 1,200 police officers on duty, anywhere from 240,000 to 290,000 people, and $500,000 worth of fireworks is what makes Las Vegas one of the biggest attractions on New Year's Eve. The fireworks lasted for eight minutes, and were launched from 10 resort rooftops all located on the strip. Performers for the night's celebration included Big Bad Voodoo and .38 Special. Sean Miller / Scroll

The screenplay, an adap- tation of Bao Shi’s novel Remembrance, is realistic and tender.

Zhang Yimou, acclaimed director of Raise the Red Lantern, brings his cinematic prowess to play in The Road Home. The portrayal of Luos’ spiritual journey into the heart of his parent’s love story is sensitive to the tugs of a culture altered by Communism, yet fixed in the tradition of honoring the past.

Luo’s mother wishes to pay homage to the memory of her husband by having his body carried on foot to its final resting place. The belief that this process will ensure the departed’s ability to find his way home has nearly been forgotten, but the honor associated with the tradition has not.

The film opens in stark black and white, echoing the emptiness of the winter setting which greets Luo on his homecoming, and presents the dilemma of fulfilling his mother’s wishes.

Luo is the only child from his parents’ union and the only young adult from his village to go to college. The other young people his age have left the village to establish themselves in the city. The remaining inhabitants of the village are children and the elderly. The resulting lack of manpower for the task at hand prompts Luo to reflect on the relationship that his parents shared.

This revery takes the film into color in a brilliantly contrasting step back in time.

Di, Luo’s mother, is 18. She, the village beauty, is about to capture the heart of the new school teacher. He has come from the city to instruct the village children in the newly constructed schoolhouse.
Their love story is one of innocence. A girl and a boy are attracted to one another. She is enthralled by the sound of his voice, he by her red jacket. At a time when arranged marriages were the norm, theirs is one of the first based solely on the commitment of their love.

The film wraps up in a welding of past and present. Luo realizes that honoring his father and mother is the surest way of being true to himself.

In an industry often focused on fancy yet meaningless plots, stunning yet distracting special effects, this film is a gem of simplicity and power.

Rating: 4.5/5 stars