When adapting a novel, sometimes the book is too long to fit into a whole feature, so filmmakers would create a multi-part film series, or they would cut down just enough to fit a feature length runtime without sacrificing the main points of the novel. Coming Home is a love story where a devoted couple still commit to their bond despite imprisonment, distance, and even failing memory, and in Zhang Yimou’s hands, the direction, structure, and execution definitely tug at the heartstrings. However, this is only the last part of Geling Yan’s original novel The Criminal Lu Yanshi. Zhang may have only been moved by the devotion Yan’s grandparents held for each other, and, to be fair, this devotion is quite moving. However, curiosity remains for the beginning of Lu’s journey– the whole reason and purpose Lu chose to act in ways that warranted his arrest.
Synopsis
Lu and Feng are a devoted couple forced to separate when Lu is arrested and sent to a labor camp as a political prisoner during the Cultural Revolution. He finally returns home only to find that his beloved wife no longer remembers him.
Storyline
China, 1970s. After his imprisonment during the Cultural Revolution, Lu finally returns home to find that his beloved wife Feng no longer recognizes him.
TLDR
It's such an interesting way to discuss a time period without actually discussing the said time period.
What stands out
What is left out of the film.
