Plot
Lu and Feng are a devoted couple forced to separate when Lu is arrested and sent to a labor camp as a political prisoner during the Cultural Revolution. He finally returns home only to find that his beloved wife no longer remembers him.
Release Year: 2014
Rating: 7.2/10 (1,613 voted)
Critic's Score: 79/100
Director: Yimou Zhang
Stars: Li Gong, Daoming Chen, Huiwen Zhang
Storyline
Lu Yanshi (Chen Daoming) and Feng Wanyu (Gong Li) are a devoted couple forced to separate when Lu is arrested and sent to a labor camp as a political prisoner, just as his wife is injured in an accident. Released during the last days of the Cultural Revolution, he finally returns home only to find that his beloved wife has amnesia and remembers little of her past. Unable to recognize Lu, she patiently waits for her husband's return. A stranger alone in the heart of his broken family, Lu Yanshi determines to resurrect their past together and reawaken his wife's memory.
Writers: Geling Yan, Jingzhi Zou
Cast: Li Gong -
Feng Wanyu
Daoming Chen -
Lu Yanshi
Huiwen Zhang -
Dan Dan, the daughter
Tao Guo -
Officer Liu
Ni Yan -
Officer Li
Chun Li -
Cui Meifang
Jia-yi Zhang -
Doctor Dai
Peiqi Liu -
Officer Liu
Jiali Ding -
Mr. Fang's wife
Bai Qing Xin -
Officer Ballet School
Feng Zu -
Officer Deng
Xiaoyi Chen -
Gong Suzhen
Coming Home is a great example of the way in which a movie can move
you, play on your emotions, without being sentimental in a negative
sense. Without being a tear-jerker. And without harsh images of
struggle and war. But with excellent acting, small gestures and not so
much words. This movie is all about empathy, first among the characters
in the story depicted, but by consequence also among the audience, that
is swept away and taken in by the sentiment.
This doesn't mean that the story is only about love and compassion. The
Cultural Revolution in China (1966-1976) was far from being peaceful
and compassionate. People were separated for years without any
information, were forced to report any 'wrong' behavior that could
'harm' or 'threaten' the Communist Party. Coming Home shows how such an
environment affects people at the individual, family level. People get
damaged and family relations are shattered because of betrayal.
Coming Home succeeds in portraying the consequences of such a regime,
by showing what humanity and compassion mean. And that is what makes it
special, and refreshing in a world where it sometimes feels like these
values are hard to find.
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