Getting Home

How far can a friendship stretch? Chinese director Zhang Yang's odd 2007 comedy takes viewers on a cross-country adventure with a construction worker and his newly deceased best friend. Zhao (played with wonderful stoicism by Zhao Benshan) and his buddy Liu (Hong Qiwen) are drinking together when Zhao realizes that Liu has suddenly died while imbibing. Abruptly, Zhao decides to carry Liu via bus to the latter's hometown on the other side of the country. The trip is anything but smooth—Zhao foils a hijacking, but is thrown off the vehicle when it's discovered that Liu is not merely sleeping. Zhao and Liu's journey continues in a series of bizarre sequences (including placing Liu inside a giant tire) and encounters with unusual people, who react to Zhao's mission with myriad emotions. While Getting Home doesn't always fully mine the story's black comedy potential, Zhao's patient, Job-like struggle is never dull, and the film's offbeat spirit quietly gathers steam until it reaches a rich and highly satisfying conclusion. A wonderfully subversive example of contemporary Chinese cinema, this is recommended. (P. Hall)