If you don't like this, we can't be friends.

A Masterpiece!

This is a coming of age storyline that you've seen in one form or another for decades. It takes a truly unique voice to make yet another one worth watching.

The storyline feels a little thin and moth-eaten in parts but this sequel is plenty of fun.

A beautiful movie, "Coming Home" tells the story of a Chinese family broken apart because the Cultural Revolution and politics, a family that will try to still be a family through really difficult times. Shot with simplicity and a clear focus by Yimou Zhang, the movie comes alive thanks to the amazing performances of the three principal characters, played by Li Gong, Daoming Chen and Huiwen Zhang. It is Li Gong, though, who stands head and shoulders above everything around her, with a performance that will most the viewer's eyes and so alive that it will remain with them long after the credits roll.The story, as said above, centers around a Chinese family. The father, Lu Yanshi, is imprisoned by the system during the Cultural Revolution. Feng Wanyu, his wife and Dan Dan, the daughter, stay back home, trying to survive the difficult times, especially as their lives have been marked by their relationship to Lu Yanshi. When Lu Yanshi gets released, he finds a family very different from the one he left.And here is where Go Ling comes to shine. Her character, Feng Wanyu, lives too much trough her husband (one of those abnegated characters that seem to be born to serve and worry about others), but Go Ling just inhabits the character with so much mastery that you won't be able to take your eyes of the screen. Every gesture, sentence, look, every movement of the hand is a piece of work, the creation of a memorable character.This is a movie that lives and dies through its performances. Luckily for us, they save us from a movie that could have been pure cheese and delivers us a vibrant look to life, privilege and loss.

This is a very interesting idea for a film and actually criticizes, indirectly, recent Chinese history. Both made me excited to see the film...yet, sadly, I found the film incredibly flat....well acted but flat and lifeless.The film begins during the so-called 'Cultural Revolution' in mainland China. It was a period in Communist Chinese history when Mao set off a period where supposed remnants of decadence and capitalism were purged. What actually happened is that intellectuals, professors and others were violently beaten, killed or imprisoned by student groups. Nothing much came of this movement (my opinion, of course, but one supported by most historians) and it mostly just made a lot of folks miserable. During this time, Lu is arrested for his decadence though exactly what he supposedly did is never mentioned in the film. Instead, he simply disappears and he finally returns home many, many years later. However, he's shocked to see that his wife's mind has snapped and Feng no longer recognizes him...and even calls out for help when he enters the home! All the while she keeps insisting throughout the film that 'Yu will be coming home on the 5th'...though in her mind the 5th never arrives.So the setup for this is very interesting as is Yu's attempt to get his wife to recognize him. However, ultimately the film goes no where and is just depressing and tedious. The pacing is THE problem with the film, though the downbeat ending didn't help. Too bad, as the concept and the acting are quite good.

By 'simple pleasures', I don't mean that in any way to reference the Chinese Cultural Revolution, but his return to simple films, about simple people, beautifully crafted, acted, and very revealing about everyday Chinese life (as much as he is able).Zhang Yimou (Chinese names put the surname first, IMDb doesn't, alas) is arguably one of the best directors of the 20th and early 21st centuries (best known in the West for House of Flying Daggers). He always evokes a magical feeling in me, and I love his technique and precision; almost every frame is a painting. He chose to remain in mainland China and has walked a very thin tightrope in making the kinds of films he has, as he does not shy away from the political situation in China, at least as part of everyday people's lives, which it is, of course. His films are just not primarily about Chinese politics (although his simple, but great early film, The Story of Qiu Ju, is about Chinese bureaucracy, and was indeed banned for a time. The fact that Gong Li, in this film, screams to the prison officials that have come to capture her husband, "What did you do to him to make him want to escape?", turning the blame for his prison escape back onto them, illustrates what their intl fame allows them to get away with.Gong Li, Zhang Yimou's ex-wife, is, I believe, the premiere female actress in China (and now known worldwide, since the wonderful film, Raise the Red Lantern, was nominated for an Oscar in 1990), with good reason, and an actress of incredible breadth and depth. Even though she has been on many 'most beautiful people' lists, (she is very made up here (or down!)), her craft is everything and I cannot watch her enough. She is lately known here for Memoirs of a Geisha, as the evil Hatsumomo.I was very, very glad to see Zhang Yimou and Gong Li reunite, professionally, for 2 recent films. They seem to push each other upward and she makes a perfect muse for him.Ah, the film...(I love telling people about them!). Coming Home is about a couple dealing with and trying to reunite after Gong Li's husband is imprisoned for a couple of decades during the Cultural Revolution in China. She grows progressively ill, which adds to their difficulties, thus the meat of the movie is about their reuniting difficulties. Definitely without a stock Hollywood ending! I was struck by one very incredible scene... It is just a walk across the kitchen by Gong Li, when her husband is knocking at her door. She has been warned severely by the police. This walk seems to take several hours as she haltingly walks across the floor, with all the ramifications, both political and personal, flashing across her face and obviously in her mind. It is one of the most astonishing 20 seconds of film I think I have ever seen, and done without dialog, melodrama or Hollywood artifice.Zhang Yimou has crafted a fine film here. It is slow, but in a good way, which builds a lot of emotional suspense. Someone said it only covers the last 20-30 pages of the book upon which it is based. As usual, every aspect of the film is top notch and it walks on the edge of the dramatic sword in a perfectly balanced manner. It will go down as another of my favorite Zhang Yimou movies. Be patient, although the tension he creates will keep you pinned, if not a bit frustrated, but that is also the beauty of it, and enjoy! And check out some of his other films!

The movie is moving,it conveys such emotions we are losing now.it seems that Yimou Zhang has critical thinking about that period history of 1970s.I don't know how many films Zhang used the stories of the period ,but here Coming Home a new one,an awesome one! Gong Li and Chen Daoming's performance is wonderful,they truly expressed the emotions two lovers should have. When the movie was on,it got good reviews and was highly recommended! It worth it! The main audience are the old who experienced the history. Maybe Zhang hopes more young go to watch the movie ,because he wants people born in nearly years to know the story and get something from it and remember . I think we should get to know the history and remember it