“Getting Home” (落叶归根; Luo Ye Gui Gen) is an award winning Chinese black comedy directed by Zhang Yang and starred veteran comedian Zhao Benshan.
Getting Home synopsis
Zhao and Liu were two migrant workers and good friends who left their respective villages and travelled thousand of miles away to Shenzhen to make a better living.
Liu passed away unexpectedly after a night of drinking, and Zhao (Zhao Benshan) decided to keep his promise to bring the remain to be buried in his hometown, and thus embarked on a long journey from Shenzhen to Chongqing.
Having limited budget, Zhao had to resort to carrying Liu on his back and hitch-hiking along the way, in which he met variety of people with different personality – some good, some bad and some weird…
The movie was very well received in China, as it shows some sad reality of modern China (albeit in a comedic way) while also showing some of the good things. It shares dark humour, random sadness, unconditional love, amazing sceneries, undying commitment, total weirdness and most importantly… facts of life.
Zhao Benshan played the role to perfection, showing the naive but honest nature of a Chinese labour who tried to fulfill a difficult promise. Other small and cameo roles are equally interesting and was played by some of the most popular artists in mainland China.
If you are into Chinese movies and culture, this is a highly recommended movie. Western movie critics have given the movie some nice ratings, but I think the westerners might be difficult to appreciate the movie if they don’t know much about the Chinese culture… worth trying though.
Movie Trailer
