Co-workers Zhao (Zhao Benshan) and Liu (Hong Qiwen, two old friends in their 50s, were drinking heavily one day when Liu unexpectedly dies. In keeping with a promise he made, Zhao travels thousands of miles across China to bring Liu's body home. With hardly any money and a corpse on his back, Zhao’s tragicomic odyssey brings him face-to-face with all manners of Chinese people in a world of rapidly changing values and mores. Based on a true story.

Co-written and directed by celebrated filmmaker Yang Zhang, GETTING HOME made its Western debut at the 2007 Berlinale where it won the Prize of the Ecumenical Jury. The Chinese title of the film derives from a proverb that says “a falling leaf returns to its roots.”

DIRECTED BY YANG ZHANG
CHINA | 2007 | MANDARIN WITH ENGLISH SUBTITLES