My Father and Mother

Synopsis

The Road Home is a 1999 romantic drama film directed by Zhang Yimou, starring Zhang Ziyi, Zheng Hao, and Sun Honglei. Adapted from Bao Shi's novel Commemoration, it tells the innocent love story of how the protagonist's parents met and fell in love. The film won the Jury Grand Prix Silver Bear at the 50th Berlin International Film Festival, holds a rating of 8.2 on Douban, and is considered Zhang Ziyi's breakthrough role.

Overview

The Road Home is a 1999 Chinese romantic drama film directed by Zhang Yimou, adapted from Bao Shi's novel Jinian. It stars Zhang Ziyi, with Zheng Hao and Sun Honglei in supporting roles. The film has a runtime of 89 minutes and holds a Douban rating of 8.2. It won the Silver Bear (Jury Grand Prix) at the 50th Berlin International Film Festival, marking another significant honor for Zhang Yimou at the Berlinale.

The story unfolds from the first-person perspective of the son (played by Sun Honglei), beginning with his father's death and retrospectively recounting how his parents met and fell in love. Zhang Yimou employs an extremely minimalist cinematic language—extensive use of static shots, minimal dialogue, and pure color contrasts—to tell a love story spanning nearly half a century. The film presents the past sequences in color and the present in black and white. This unconventional use of color suggests that memories of one's parents are the most vibrant hues in life.

Plot

The story begins with the death of the father, Luo Changyu. His son (Sun Honglei), who works in the city, returns to his hometown for the funeral. According to local custom, the father's body must be carried back to the village. However, the road is long and rugged. The mother, Zhao Di, insists on sending her husband off in her own way—she will personally weave a burial cloth and hire people to carry the coffin back using the traditional method.

During the funeral preparations, the son recalls the story of his parents' youth.

Decades earlier, Luo Changyu (Zheng Hao), a young teacher fresh out of a normal school, arrives in Sanhetun village to teach. He is the first educated intellectual in the village and is highly respected by all. The beautiful young Zhao Di (Zhang Ziyi), renowned as the most beautiful girl in the surrounding villages, is captivated by the young teacher's refined demeanor and bravely becomes the first local girl to engage in a free love marriage.

Zhao Di waits for Luo Changyu every day on his way to school, bringing him delicious food. She expresses her love in her simple ways—weaving the reddest cloth, making the most delicious dumplings, walking the longest distance to deliver meals. Luo Changyu is also moved by Zhao Di's sincerity and courage, and the two fall deeply in love.

However, their happiness is short-lived. Luo Changyu is transferred away due to political reasons. Zhao Di chases after the departing horse-drawn cart in a snowstorm but falls on the road. The image of the meticulously woven red cloth scattered on the snowy ground has become one of the most heartbreaking scenes in Chinese cinema. After a long period of waiting and perseverance, the two are finally reunited and spend the rest of their lives together.

Cast

Cultural Impact

The Road Home is Zhang Ziyi's screen debut and breakthrough role. At the time, Zhang Ziyi was still a student at the Central Academy of Drama. Her clear gaze and unadorned performance captivated all audiences. Her image running through golden wheat fields, her persistence in chasing her lover through the snow, and the scene of her walking along a country path holding a blue-and-white porcelain bowl have become some of the most iconic female images in Chinese cinema. The Berlin jury unanimously found the film deeply moving, believing no award was too high for it.

The film's cinematographic aesthetics reach an exceptionally high standard. Zhang Yimou departed from the intense color palette of his previous works, adopting instead a fresh and elegant tone. The stark contrasts—the red cotton-padded jacket in the golden wheat fields, the red cloth scattered on white snow—vividly express the passion and purity of love. The film's narrative pace is extremely gentle, almost like a long prose poem, allowing the audience to feel the deepest emotional impact amidst tranquility.

This film is also Zhang Yimou's affectionate look back at an era of innocence. In a time of increasing materialism and utilitarianism, Zhang Yimou uses a love story about waiting and perseverance to remind people that the simplest emotions are the most precious. Zhao Di's love for Luo Changyu contains no utilitarian calculation, only the purest affection and the most persistent waiting. This view of love appears particularly precious and desirable in contemporary society.

References

1. Douban Movie: https://movie.douban.com/subject/1294007/
2. Baidu Baike: https://baike.baidu.com/item/我的父亲母亲/33864
3. Wikipedia: https://zh.wikipedia.org/zh-cn/我的父亲母亲