Nicht ohne meine Leiche

"A falling leaf returns to its roots" is a Chinese proverb. This endearing film is based on this proverb. It is a modern day story of mainland China--an emerging economic power. Rural migrants are attracted to the cities in search of prosperity. One such 50 year-old-migrant construction worker Zhao (a commendable performance by actor Zhao Benshan), is surprised to find during a drinking bout in a pub that his buddy is not dead drunk but dead as a doornail. As a good peasant would, Zhao vows to keep his promise made during the drinking session that if either buddy died, the other would carry/transport the dead body to the dead man's village and bury his body there. As a promise is promise, Zhao uses all his wits and physical strength to transport the dead body to the village. The fallen leaf has to return to its roots.

What a yarn, you will say! But hold on. The Chinese director Yang Zhang and his scriptwriter Yao Wang built the film script around a real incident in 2006 when a Chinese peasant did carry a dead buddy to his village oblivious of all Chinese laws that prohibit such an action to ensure that the dead man did not transform into a "hungry ghost." Now director Zhang, scriptwriter Wang and a fascinating comic actor Zhao Benshan weave a "Pilgrim's Progress" type road-movie story that constantly shifts from escapist top-gear to formidable realism overdrive as it unspools an array of human behavior--some loathsome, some endearing, some moralizing, some quirky but all very real.

There are vignettes of Asian values. You encounter robbers who appreciate the value of friendship and return their loot to those who honor commitments of friendship. You are shown mothers living as anonymous rag-pickers and professional blood donors, so that their offspring can pursue a comfortable career in the city. Wealthy rural folk do not know who really loves and respects them, and therefore arrange mock funerals following their own faked death to glimpse the truth. There is the philosophical young man who would like to ride to "Tibet" or the roof of the world. There is a family that lives far away from society because the wife/mother has been disfigured by an accident, and yet is a wonderful person. There is a truck driver who having lost his love is crestfallen, but needs someone else to set the compass of his life to regain his lost love.

There are other vignettes that show the unhealthy characteristics of economic progress. Construction companies employ migrants but cheat them by paying salaries in counterfeit notes. Highway restaurants overcharge their clients and use thugs to extort money if they don't pay up. Seedy blood banks pay money for any type of blood donor because there is money in the business. Rich families in cars do not stop to give lifts to the poor and stranded on the roads. Once-robbed travelers do not show compassion to the individual who was responsible for the return of stolen goods—they are concerned with their possessions. Women accuse men staring at them without bothering to check if the accusation is real or imagined. The list goes on.

The movie underlines that there are two sorts of people. One lot cares for others, empathizes with their problems and helps them get out of their predicaments. The other lot lives for themselves and concentrates on their own material interests. The rural folk seem to fall into the first category, while the neo-rich fall into the other.

The ultimate destination of the "road movie" is the controversial Three Gorges mega-dam. On route to the dam, the viewer can glimpse breathtaking landscapes of China. Is the director feeling sorry for the village of the dead man (and the associated values that go with rural, simple life) that has been covered with the waters of the dam? Only the director can answer, we can only ask the question.

The funny thing about the movie is that while the character and milieu is Chinese, the essential elements are universal in any economy "progressing" from rich traditional values to a more consumerist, urban rat race. It is no wonder that the film won the 2007 Berlin Film Festival Prize of the Ecumenical Jury and the Best Asian film NETPAC award at the recent International Film Festival of Kerala. The movie makes you laugh, but tugs at your conscience. The "falling leaf" in your soul, would like to return to "the root" or traditional life styles when people bonded well and were not out to make a quick buck.

Very close in subject and treatment to the 2004 Iranian black comedy "Khab e-talkh (Bitter Dreams)," director Zhang and scriptwriter Yang need to be complimented for painting a "celluloid" canvas that entertains those who crave for escapism (amidst all the black humor). The viewer has to discount the fact that the body does not decay and the Zhao never tires carrying a dead man around. While the escapist element is in the foreground, the real strength of the film comes from the realistic vignettes that are not Chinese but universal in values and temperament. Here is yet another Chinese film that entertains and offers ample food for thought.

I watched this film with my homiez in theatre ,Ji Nan,i found the audience can not help themselves 2 laugh out loudly several times,the main reason IMO is because of Zhao benshan,one of the best comedian in China.

Every traditional Chinese new year show,if the show without the performance of Zhao Benshan,maybe kind of boring,so you will know what a great actor he is.

This flick directed by Zhang yang who also directed The Shower(XiZao),tells a farmer(in China also called Ming Gong) who tries to bring home the body of his friend, who died far from their town,on the way to his dead friends home happened lots of unexpected things,some of them are funny,some of them are so moving,it proved the priceless of the promise.

Zhao benshan played this role so naturally with the accent of northeast,it was hard for a man whose age nearly 50 to nonstop carrying body such a long distance,it make me thinking of a song called "the people from northeast were all alive Lei Feng",lol

This film set in Southwest of China,the scene was beautiful,cinematography and the colors were remarkable...

I give this film 10/10,no doubt,if you are a big fan of Zhao benshan,go to watch it,don't miss,it worth your money!

As with many "Road Movies" this is also a "Buddy Film". Only, the buddy is a very "silent partner". "Weekend at Bernie's" and "The Trouble with Harry" spring to mind, but our friend does not nearly play such an active role as Bernie or Harry - though he does provide the reason for being on the road.

Travelling with our buddies through China on the way to the Three Gorges really has the feel of being on Route #66, China. I felt like I was looking over Charles Kuralt's shoulder whenever there was yet another vignette of rural China. Wheather true or not, I come away with the belief I know/understand these people of the earth. The touching and moving parts of the film are meant to tug at our heart-strings but do not feel contrived. That so many of the commenter's express how beautifully the film shows "their" China, I am convinced that such hardships are typical there.

Yet, with all the sadness, this is a "feel good" movie. Life goes on, tomorrow is another day, and our journey's end is just down the road a bit.

If the motherland were a river, I would be a fish swimming happily. If the motherland were a road, I would be a car moving forward happily. If the motherland were a tree, I would be a leaf waving in the breeze happily.

Life is unpredictable, consisting of ups and downs.Sometimes you may be in high spirits, but at other times you can feel very low. Sometimes you may meet very good people, but don't forget villains do exist. Sometimes you may bound forward and run quickly, but you can be found staggering along one night.

After a dead leaf falls down, it is absorbed by the soil and a new plant will grow.The cycle of birth, growth and death repeats itself, like the river in the last scene. That's life...

No matter how feeble and helpless we may feel sometimes, human beings will still struggle with the environment and fate for an opportunity to live. Ahead of us are lots of things to experience, exciting and depressing. Nevertheless, because of pain, we know what pleasure is. (That's just like the walking scenes in the movie. When the girls working in the field, cars, cow and bicycle pass by, we know how fast Old Zhao walks. By the way, the audience may pay attention to the symbolic meanings of different vehicles in the movie, e.g. bicycles, coaches, carts, private cars, trucks, buses, etc.) If we were doomed to the sufferings, what we are able to change would be the way in which we interpret them. Be positive and never give up! The movie ends suddenly and the unfinished business may puzzle some members of the audience. However, I personally find it very meaningful and symbolic. The ending successfully upgrades this can-be-typical road movie to an abstract motto. "Life is a road comprising UPS and DOWNS. Do live each day happily as it comes and enjoy life to the full!" The ending (i.e. the river) also symbolically implies that human beings should not always emphasize the importance of results. Instead, we should pay attention to the process.

Those touching moments, black humor, superb acting and the meaningful ending make this road movie a unique and impressive one causing catharsis. Moved to tears and laughter, you may ponder on the meaning of LIFE when you leave the theatre. My favourite movie in 2007!!!

Here comes a dark comedy movie from People's Republic of China with a not truly original story but some great images and a solid acting.

After the death of a coworker, his colleague and friend wants to fulfil his mate's last wish and bring his cadaver in his small home town that happens to be almost two thousand miles away. On his way through the big and diversified country, the man on his strange mission meets a lot of strange people such as philosophical thieves, heartbroken truck drivers, lonely but smart old men, bikers that are looking for freedom and fulfilment, cutthroat restaurant owners, desperate but cordial beggars and dutiful police officers before the movie ends with a little twist.

The movie has a lot of colourful characters and kicks off with the most funny and intriguing scenes in the bus and with a truck driver. After a strong start, the movie gets a little bit redundant now and then and has a couple of lengths. Even the good acting in this road movie can't help that the movie sometimes gets lost. In contrast to these lengths, the beginning and the ending of the movie are definitely too abrupt and lack of depth.

The movie doesn't centre around its weak plot but around true Chinese valours and the diversified cultures, landscapes and people. I though feel that this movie is once again slightly propagandistic and tries to dress an almost perfect image of the Chinese people even if there are also one or two bad boys to find. Every recent Chinese movie contains some proverbs and traditional songs. When you first see and hear this, it's exotic, intriguing and original but it gets a boring and pretentious trend. It's the same as if every second American film would include Christmas carols and mention the American Dream. It would get annoying after a while. This movie also contains too many proverbs and carols.

In the end, this movie is especially an interesting one for anybody that doesn't know that much about Chinese culture as one can discover a lot of cultural things about this amazing country in this movie. Anybody that is used to Chinese cinema won't discover anything new and apart of a very solid start, a very good acting and a well done romance towards the end, this flick remains quite average. It's worth to be watched once but nothing more in my humble opinion.