Rating: 
Summary: ...and they said it couldn't be done
Review: This movie has a lot going for it. Good acting, beautiful filming, good story line (romantic, but not cheesy) and other attributes as well. Eventhough having all of those elements in a single movie is rare, there is something even more striking about this movie that makes it a true accomplishment: a movie with no violence, no sex, no nudity, no profanity or other things you would want to shelter your children from. While NOT having those things in a movie is an accomplishment the TRULY amazing thing is that this movie is targeted to an adult audience! (that means no cartoons, talking animals or dogs playing sports!) I would imagine that children would be bored to tears with this movie. The other adults I know that have seen this were equally moved by this fact. Finally, an intelligent well made movie for adults that leaves out all of the garbage! Highly recommended.
Rating:
Summary: Wide-eyed and heartfelt...
Review: "The Road Home" is a simple love story set in a rustic Chinese village in which the local maiden falls for the new schoolteacher. She is instantly smitten and watches for him with beaming hopefulness and unaffected delight. *** The maiden is played by Zhang ZiYi, best known for her knockout performance in Ang Lee's "Hidden Tiger, Crouching Dragon." "The Road Home" is an entire valentine to ZiYi. For every second she is on, ZiYi radiates with wholesome, girlish beauty. *** We hardly ever see the schoolteacher at all. The love story hinges on Zhang ZiYi. She devises pretenses for encountering the schoolteacher, cooks him her best dishes, and literally waits for him by the road when he's forced to take a leave of absence,. For many a jaded viewer, this is a pathetic heroine, but her heart is truer and purer than anything Hollywood manufactures. If you're not touched by the sight of her waiting along the road in deep snow, then there's definitely a gaping hole where your heart should be.
Rating: 
Summary: A Masterpiece of Movie-Making
Review: For years my favourite movie was The Shawshank Redemption. That is, until now. The Road Home is truly a masterpiece of movie-making. Yimou Zhang's direction is flawless, Yong Hou's cinematography is stunningly brilliant, and Ziyi Zhang as the love-smitten girl is casting at its finest. Many movies have left me teary-eyed. The Road Home, however, was the first and only movie to date that affected me so deeply, so intensely, that I literally broke down and cried. And cry you will if you have even an ounce of compassion and romance in your heart. If you need action, sex, and violence, in other words, the typical American fluff, then don't watch this movie. If, however, you've matured enough to appreciate that true love is the essence of life, then do yourself a favour and watch The Road Home. You will not be disappointed. I guarantee it.
Rating:
Summary: A Simple Innocent Love Story
Review: "The Road Home" is a moving story of innocent love between Zhao Di (Zhang Ziyi) and the new local teacher from the city. Zhao Di falls deeply in love with the teacher at first sight. She does everything she could, in a shy way, to catch his attention. When he notices her , he also develops a crush, but their romance is cut short when he is sent back to the city to settle some problems with the government. Zhao Di gets incredibly depressed to the point of her hallucinating, hearing his voice at the local school reciting with his students. When the day he was to come back, Zhao Di stands on the road side, in freezing weather to wait for him. He doesn't show and she becomes very ill. Even the illness didn't stop her determination, when she tries to go the city in the middle of a snow storm to find him, but faints at the side of the road where she is found and brought back home. The story doesn't end here, so I urge you to see the movie to find out the outcome. This is Zhang Ziyi's first movie, and it really shows her acting ability and how much she can get into a role. The story is affective and it's not complicating. This is a simple, sweet, and yet powerful love story, where you really feel for the characters involved. This is a movie for all ages. If you like Chinese dramas, this is a good one to see.
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Summary: some extract from the director about learning in this movie.
Review: In the film, the elements of history and present-day reality are both grounded in the notion of study. At the same time, the story shows the attitude of country people towards learning - essentially, an attitude of respect and veneration. All of this brings to mind the ways that Chinese people have reacted to 'learning' at two particular moments in our modern history. The first of these was several decades ago. For purely political reasons, learning was cruelly devalued. Intellectuals suffered physical abuse and were made to 'disappear'. The second of these is today. Everyone now understands the principle that knowledge equals power, and yet so many of us are ultra-materialistic and obsessed with money. Learning is once again being devalued.
Rating:
Summary: minor details
Review: My two cents extra: * The reason for Zhaodi's love, beside Luo the person which is the most important part, also lies with the admiration from an illiterate person to knowledge. I am not quite sure if it's only a Chinese tradition or it's simply part of human nature. Knowledge itself, not only its uses, is admirable. The reason the son teach a class in the morning, and the mom's appreciation, are also part of it. * The materials that Luo teaches the kids to read, "to learn to read and write, to be a good man, to understand how things work..." are of traditional Chinese value, probably also common around the world, making the admiration of it understandable. Sadly, during these times probably the kids are also told about the greatness of Chairman Mao, which might lead to much controversy. I remember Babara Bush has written something about visiting Chinese schools during the 70s. Or maybe I was wrong since the movie is staged at the 50s, not 70s. * Zhaodi is the first name, where Di is the nickname. Zhaodi means looking for a little brother. Zhaodi and her blind mother made a living waving.
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Summary: Beautiful Love Story and Pro-educational, Should be An Oscar
Review: The true love story and beautiful scenary shots. No wonder it was directed by Zhang, Yimou, the best director in China, who was originally studied Cinamic Choreagraphy (poor spelling?) then later became actor and director. I seldom was moved to tears by any movies, being a man, but not for this one, I have watched many times, each time was fascinated and attracted by the colorful landscape and beautiful actress Zhang, Ziyi.
Here is the Time Asia Magazine exclusive interview about Yimou and Ziyi's new movie, "Hero" with other superstars, Jet Li, Maggie Cheung and Tony Leung. You won't see it before the geginning of next year. But I bet it will be another smash hit in the world. (...)
It was a cover story and iterviews with all the major casts and directors. The following is the pasted interviews about Ziyi by Yimou:
Time: You told us that Zhang Ziyi feels a lot broader to you as an actress than she did when you were working on The Road Home with her. Does she now give you that same sense of being able to wrap a scene in one or two takes that you talked about with regard to Maggie Cheung and Tony Leung? Or does she still need a lot more cajoling to achieve the kind of performance you want?
Zhang: On this film, she's almost there. In the past, I had to spend a lot of time talking through each shot with her. Now she catches on much more quickly. Of course, she doesn't have the variety of experience of Tony or Maggie. She's still young. But she's got the ability.
Time: Do you think that's a function of her increased familiarity with your demands on her as an actress? Is it that she simply has a better sense of what you want from her in a performance?
Zhang Yimou: Partially, yes. But it's just as much to do with the development of her craft as an actress. I'll give you an example. When we were making The Road Home, there were several times in the film when she needed to cry. And as far as I was concerned these were crucially important parts of the movie. I'd call for quiet on the set. There had to be total silence, because crying in front of so many people is not easy. I knew we could only do one take. The lights, the film, everything had to be perfect, because I was afraid that on the second or third takes the tears wouldn't come, or the acting wouldn't seem sincere. But on this film, she's been amazing. We have technical problems all time. There's always one reason or another to re-shoot the scene. We're doing five or six takes for every shot. And she cries on command. It only takes her a few seconds to get in and out of character. It has surprised and impressed me. This is real change in Ziyi's acting. Now if I have to shoot her crying, I'm not afraid of shooting multiple takes, because there's always a possibility that the last take will be the best one. Maggie's got the same talent. And I've caught Ziyi studying her performance very intently. It's a smart move. There's a lot Maggie can teach her.
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Summary: Where's the full screen version???
Review: First, I completely agree with everyone who raves about this movie--it's one of the best I saw last year. However, this DVD was supposed to contain both the widescreen and fullscreen versions of the movie. As far as I can tell, there is no fullscreen version on this DVD. I tried everything I could think of, including the angle button on my DVD remote, but it's just not there. So, if you really want to have this movie in a fullscreen format, you are going to be disappointed if you get this DVD. You may want to consider the VHS version instead. Other than that, the DVD quality is quite good. There's not much in the way of bonus features, but the picture and sound quality are quite good, and many people will probably not care that the full screen version is missing.
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Summary: One of my Favorites, But Not One I'd Necessarily Want to Own
Review: THE ROAD HOME" is one of the most wonderful and beautiful films I ever seen. I'm not really into chinese movies, mainly because they are slow, but I took a chance with this one and saw it. I have to say that I absoultely loved it. But it is very sad at the end, so it wouldn't be one I'd want to own. But definately one to check out. It's kind like owning "TITANIC" and "PEARL HARBOR". Do you really want to watch a disaster over and over? I'm not saying there's a big disaster in this movie, but hopefully you'll get what I mean.
Anyways...The main point about the movie is that it is so simple that it takes your breath away. The love story is small and epic at the same time. You can really tell the two are in love. It's so real. Zhang Ziyi, from Crounching Tiger, is wonderful as a poor peasant girl in love with the new village school teacher. The actual story of how their love unfolded is so tender and sweet that it will leave you trying to hold back tears of pure joy. The music, composed by San Bao works so well with the movie, it's outstanding. Enjoy!
Rating:
Summary: Captivating Story About Endearing Love
Review: This movie was very heart-felt & I couldn't help but using up all the tissues available to me. Lovers would probably emphatise with the main characters when they first fall in love, when they were head over heels over somebody & would do foolish things without knowing exactly why. Unlike Western movies, due to Eastern culture (probably of the past anyhow), the expression of love was subtle but obvious just the same. The story slowly unfolded & only till the end, we started to realise the reasons why "the road home" was so important to Zhang ZiYi's character when she was an old lady. Anyhow, the film was simply but beautifully made with perfect setting, giving us glimpses of trades that were dying or extinct such as porcelain repairer, believable cast. Zhang ZiYi was such a revelation in the movie. It's not her script that made her stood out but her body language of an 18 years old that defied the local tradition of match-making but followed her heart to be with someone she truly loved. For a change, this movie didn't explore or criticise political beliefs in China then but concentrated wholly in the pursuance of the ideal of love. Highly recommended
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