A Thousand Years of Good Prayers (2007)

I found this movie somewhat of a mixed blessing.Henry O is likable as a concerned father visiting his cold-as-a-fish daughter, who has abandoned many of her Chinese traditions and lives a kind of sterile existence in Portland. Mr. Shi apparently worked too much under some harsh Communist conditions; some suspected him of having an affair with a co-worker though it never happened. Still, his late wife held all this against him and his daughter Yilan is still stewing over it.Some of the best scenes in this film depict Mr. Shi and another foreign-born parent, Madam (Vida Ghahremani), struggling to commiserate with each other in English after having met by happenstance on a park bench.As good as those scenes were, I'm not sure the plot and characterizations in this film hold together very well. Toward the end of the film, Mr. Shi gets a little more pointed in his questions of his daughter. He's concerned that she's wasting her time on a married Russian man. Their getting below the surface in their dialogue somehow draws them closer together and in the end Yilan cracks a smile for the first time.I guess we are supposed to see this as a breakthrough. But I found Yilan so unpleasantly monosyllabic that I really stopped caring much about her. It bothered me that Madam, a refreshingly vibrant presence earlier in the movie, gets whisked out of the story near its end. Her friend says she placed her in an assisted-living facility because her son had not wanted her moving in with him.That made no sense to me...She was a sensitive and determined woman and I didn't see how a friend of hers could dispose of her in this fashion.In the end I guess it smacked a bit of stereotyping against elders.I'd heard good things about Wayne Wang's direction but this production was a mixed bag. As a student of Mandarin, though, I greatly enjoyed the beautifully articulated conversations between father and child. The meals Mr. Shi whipped up looked delicious as well!

1000 years is a small film built on a simple premise: a Chinese father visits his daughter. He is nearing the end of life and the film is at all times reflective and quiet. His daughter is recovering from a bad divorce and they have never felt close. He arrives in America feeling alienated and the film centers around themes of reaching out and alienation. He makes friends in the park with an Farsi woman - they don't share language, but they share communication.Of course, the journey they all take is in their conversations and silences is the film.If that doesn't sound like your cup of tea then you won't enjoy this: however if you can let this wash over you it is surprisingly involving and beautifully rendered.It is film for the mature, the small gestures and meanings of the words in different languages hold meanings within meaning but there is something implicitly human on display here.Shot in natural tones with a washed out feel to it the cinematography lends much.One to be savored and strongly reminiscent of Swedish cinema this is real film in one sense, but it fails in being too staged in places.All in all a small film that will appeal to those who enjoy reality in film.

The films of Wayne Wang are an acquired taste. His early films,such as 'Eat A Bowl Of Tea','Dim Sum:A Little Bit Of Heart',and his best known film 'The Joy Luck Club' are meditations on the Asian lifestyle in the United States. If your tastes are aimed at explosions,car chases, mindless teen sex romps,bathroom humour,then avoid Wang's films at all costs. If you like a well written screenplay that doesn't dwell on car chases,explosions,toilet humour & all the rest that make for just another descent into the cinematic sewer,then you just may get your groove on with the films of Wayne Wang. Here,a elderly Chinese widower comes to the U.S. to visit his adult daughter (and try to run her life), while adjusting to the American experience (or at least trying to adjust). Toss in an attempted friendship with a widow from Iran,mix in some long hidden family secrets, and we have ourselves the formula for a real human drama. The cast,mainly made up of unknowns,make this slowly paced (but never boring)drama an alternative to the formulaic Hollywood garbage that always seems to be the centre of attention at the local multiplexes. No rating,but outside of the discreet mention of extra marital affairs,nothing to offend here.

There is some warning in this story and it is well worth watching. Henry O performs admirably in his role as the watchful father that harbors his own secrets. His best intentions fall short of the mark and despite his efforts, life seems to follow a path that is not of his making.The writer and author is revealed in the title. Just search on it. If you don't like stories like this or Samuel Beckets "Waiting for Godot" (all on a park bench) then don't watch it. I found the story humorous and uplifting but it saddened and worried me that the relationship between a father and his child will not get better.This is a good film and deserves its awards.