Coming Home Blu-ray Movie

Rating summary

Movie		4.5
Video		4.0
Audio		5.0
Extras		2.0
Overall		4.0

Coming Home Blu-ray Movie Review

Reviewed by Martin Liebman March 15, 2016

There's no denying that cinema has a love affair with flash. The biggest tentpole blockbusters are often the loudest and the gaudiest the medium has to offer. There's nothing wrong with that, and many that embrace that style are entertaining time killers at worst and rightly revered classics at best. Sometimes, however, one gets the feeling that cinema is so obsessed with fake that it forgets real, that there's a glaring absence of legitimate, sincere, heartfelt, and emotionally tangible moviemaking out there. Some of cinema's most timeless gems leave behind the prototypical eye candy and instead embrace the soulful ebbs and flows of life. They explore the human condition with the utmost tenderness but, at the same time, tangible authenticity. They find a purpose greater than themselves and strive to move the heart, not get it pounding. Coming Home, based on the novel The Criminal Lu Yanshi by Geling Yan, is one such film that favors low key stylings blended with overwhelming sincerity. It's a story that examines the undying power of love that neither time nor crisis can wipe away, no matter how stacked the odds may be against it.

Lu Yanshi (Chen Daoming) is a political prisoner who has recently escaped and made a dangerous and clandestine effort to return home to see his wife Feng Wanyu (Gong Li) and his daughter Dandan (Zhang Huiwen). Both Feng and Dandan are ordered to report any contact with him to the state authorities immediately. Dandan is an aspiring stage performer with her eye on the lead role in a play called The Red Detachment of Women. Another girl is chosen in her place, but she decides to turn her father in, hoping that her loyalty will be rewarded with an on-stage promotion. Lu Yanshi is taken back into custody before he's able to see his wife. Years pass, and he's finally freed. However, he returns home to a wife who does not know him; her long term memory has long left her. In an effort to remain close with her, Lu poses as a piano tuner and finds comfort with her in reading old letters.

While the film's story drivers center on the Chinese Cultural Revolution and the imprisonment of a political dissident, that serves only as a backdrop for a much larger, and much more intimately meaningful, story of undying love and, in a rather unique way, unrequited love. The movie further explores themes of forgiveness, but it's the story of Lu Yanshi's undying devotion to his wife that's the centerpiece. A tender and remarkable story of perseverance, sacrifice, and unending faithfulness, Lu Yanshi's post-prison life underscores the uniqueness of the human condition and not simply the power of love, as it were, but rather, and more importantly, the depth of the soul. This is hardly the first film to deal with the subject of love lost to the fading of the mind, one way or another, whether through the comic lens of amnesia (50 First Dates) or the somewhat more broad consequences of memory loss (Still Alice), but Coming Home finds a more intimate appeal in its story, a feeling of legitimately soulful passion and undying commitment to both another person and commitment to one's own heart, even under the most challenging conditions.

The movie's soulful theme and moving story of love's perseverance are accentuated by terrifically underscored direction from Zhang Yimou, who manages to find an intimacy of story through his photography, capturing both the physical and internal character nuances with a delicate approach that accentuates actor performances, that compliments them, without overwhelming them. The movie's gray-dominant color scheme and muted primaries at once accentuate the outer struggles but also contrast with the inner drive, giving the film a somber mood but, in its own way, an accentuating spirit underneath. Performances are stellar. Lu Yanshi is remarkable as the devoted husband whose return isn't the reunification of which he dreamed. He beautifully captures the character's dichotomy of intimacy and distance and the role reversal that defines his arc through the movie as both an escaped political prisoner and, later, a free man whose only common thread is his devotion to reuniting with his wife, one way or another. Gong Li is likewise fantastic in a more underscored but nuanced performance. Her character necessarily demands less tangible emotion, but it is in some ways the more complex part, finding that sense of distance even when so much love is so close by.

Coming Home Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

Coming Home, as noted above, features a gray-dominant color scheme, a palette that engenders a rather somber, cold, and distant emotional response. Sony's 1080p transfer appears very faithful to Director Zhang Yimou's vision for the material. Primaries are muted, with even background red accents on clothes and signs often lingering only underneath the predominance of dreary colorings. Details are very strong, though perhaps not quite so exactingly sharp as those found on the most finely detailed Blu-ray releases. Facial textures sometimes lack intimate finesse, while at other times there's no mistaking the transfer's ability to reveal unique, individual skin textures with ease. Garments are particularly stout, showcasing very fine fabric details, such as stitching and frays, with commendable intimacy. Worn wood, battered concrete, beat-up signage, and other little accents enjoy robustness of texture and clarity throughout. Black levels enjoy excellent depth and flesh tones only push mildly pasty under the gray-heavy façade and digital source photography. Minor banding and noise are visible but rarely distracting. Overall, this is another job well done from Sony.

Coming Home Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

One might prematurely conclude that, given its story, Coming Home would feature a front-heavy, dialogue-intensive soundtrack. Nothing could be farther from the truth. While the track does oftentimes feature intimate, heartfelt dialogue exchanges that are largely the only sonic detail in to be heard, it oftentimes features an incredibly robust, dynamic, and smartly engineered listening experience. The movie begins with a rumbling train. Its whistle pierces the listening area. The train rattles and pushes through the stage with lifelike heft and sense of movement. When the camera perspective shifts, so too does the train's position, transitioning from a front-dominant right to left positioning to a rear to front position. Similar sounds arrive again later in the film. Driving rain effortlessly saturates the stage with one of the most complete, immersive sensations one can imagine. Perhaps more impressive is the way rain gently pelts windows as heard from inside, trickling off to a side and creating a striking sense of place and environment. Street level details are also full and richly populated across the stage. Music enjoys effortless spacing and definition. Dialogue is clear, smartly prioritized, and center-grounded. This is a remarkable listen from beginning to end.

Coming Home Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

Coming Home contains a commentary and a Q&A session. No digital or DVD versions are included.

• Audio Commentary: Director Zhang Yimou discusses the original source novel, cast and performances, the film's styling and technical intricacies, the movie's production, photography, and much more. In Mandarin with English subtitles.
• Toronto Film Festival Q&A with Zhang Yimou (1080i, 18:48): Prior to a screening, the director shares a few thoughts on the film, the history of the time period depicted in it, his hopes for the film, and more. Most of the piece is a post-screening Q&A session. In Mandarin, subtitled, and with an English translator present.
• Theatrical Trailer (1080p, 2:20).
• Previews (1080p): Additional Sony titles.

Coming Home Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

Coming Home is a powerful Drama that captures a very tangible human essence. Love and devotion, even under the most unimaginably trying circumstances, are the dominant themes, accentuated by remarkably complex performances and terrific technical craftsmanship. Sony's Blu-ray release of Coming Home features good video, standout audio, and a couple of extras. Highly recommended.