A Thousand Years of Good Prayers (2007)

Touches You

Plenty to Like, Plenty to Dislike

Good movie but grossly overrated

At first rather annoying in its heavy emphasis on reenactments, this movie ultimately proves fascinating, simply because the complicated, highly dramatic tale it tells still almost defies belief.

Here a perfect example of a boring film.It starts out strong, the first twenty minutes or so are somehow interesting and perhaps a good character development... we have this old man, trying to deal with his loneliness, with a struggling relationship with his daughter. Then this theme lasts forever. Literally no conflicts happens in this film. All of it seems pointless, and apparently the highest point of this film is nowhere near of being interesting. This coming from someone that can stand really boring films. So i am not exaggerating about it, trust me. The boredom in this film is beyond the acceptable limits by far.Maybe i am not in the perhaps small 'targeted' group of audience of people that are 60 years old or more, but frankly, i am just warning about 99% of the people in this world that are not in the targeted audience to stay away from the film.But yeah, those who have a grandpa do know that this film is very truthful to reality. It depicts the loneliness and the struggles that a 'old' person suffers when 'changes the ambient that he/ she is used to live. Real deal here. Very realistic. But all in all, the climax don't does nothing to me. It is just about some pointless revelations explaining why the 'quiet' behavior of both the father and daughter. Not mildly interesting.The technical aspects in this film are generic at best. Not worth to mention.Skip this film and avoid an inevitable headache. 3.7/10

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.

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.

It is so refreshing to see a director (Wayne Wang) so courageously has his audience go through watching and listening to conversations in mixed dialogues exploring the "human relationships and communications" that goes beyond common language! There is an understanding that masterfully is being established during the movie with the audience, interestingly enough, the old man (Henry O) fails to establish this with his daughter, but it is being established with the audience, "with subtitles at times." Then the climax, the scenes/conversations in the park between an Iranian old woman (Vida Ghahremani) and the Chinese old man (Henry O) in mixed languages, Mandarin, Farsi, and English, "with No sub titles!" which the audience has no problem understanding it and it is fluent, enticing and absolutely delightful. This is an amazingly smart and fascinating movie with masterful acting, specially the old couple, the Iranian old woman (Vida Ghahremani) and the Chinese old man (Henry O). Warning: if you are looking for an Action or Kong Fu movie, this may not be your top choice.