Together Movie Review 2002

Sentimental story about a musical prodigy, his dad, and the "new" China. With many of the restrictions of the Cultural Revolution a thing of the past, Western classical music is once more taught and performed. Violin prodigy Liu Xiaochun (Tang, who does his own playing) is 13 and his father Li Cheng (Liu) is determined to make the most of the boy's talents though the family is poor. Cheng and Xiaochun head to Beijing for an important musical competition and the boy makes an impressive showing. So much so, that his father is able to persuade a crancky but talent teacher (Wang) to mentor Xiaochun. While in the big city, the lad also becomes infatuated with beautiful new neighbor Lili (Chen), a model with a consumer-oriented lifestyle from whom he receives important lessons about sacrifice and friendship. Mandarin with subtitles.

Distribution

MGM Home Entertainment, 2500 Broadway, Santa Monica, CA 90404-6061, Phone: (310)449-3000, Fax: (310)449-3100, URL: http://www.mgmhomevideo.com, Remarks: Does not handle retail queries from consumers; contact your local video distributor.

Available on VHS, DVD
Running time 116 minutes.
Originally from Chinese, Korean.

Cast and Crew

Genres

China, Teen Angst, Dads

Screenplay

Chen Kaige, Xiaolu Xue

Cast

Yun Tang, Peiqi Liu, Zhiwen Wang, Hong Chen, Chen Kaige

Cinematography

Hyung-koo Kim

Director

Chen Kaige

Music

Lin Zhao

Other

Danrong Wang, Ying Zhou, Luyi Liu, Yeong-su Ha, Cao Jiuping

Producer

Hong Chen, Joo-ik Lee, China Film, 21st Century Hero Film Investment, China Movie Channel, Big Bang Creative, United Artists