A Thousand Years of Good Prayers (2007) poster
8.0
Your Rating: 0/10
Ratings: 8.0/10 from 9 users
# of Watchers: 42
Reviews: 1 user
Ranked #75577
Popularity #99999
Watchers 9

A Chinese man travels to America to visit his estranged daughter after her recent divorce. Though his trip starts off as a mission to see his daughter remarry, he sparks to an Iranian woman who, despite their language barrier, captures his heart. While the origin of this film states it's from the United States, the film is in Mandarin. (Source: IMDb) Edit Translation

  • English
  • magyar / magyar nyelv
  • dansk
  • Norsk
  • Country: China
  • Type: Movie
  • Release Date: Sep 9, 2007
  • Duration: 1 hr. 23 min.
  • Score: 8.0 (scored by 9 users)
  • Ranked: #75577
  • Popularity: #99999
  • Content Rating: Not Yet Rated

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Reviews

Completed
The Butterfly
2 people found this review helpful
Jan 30, 2022
Completed 0
Overall 8.0
Story 8.0
Acting/Cast 7.5
Music 7.0
Rewatch Value 6.0
This review may contain spoilers
A Thousand Years of Good Prayers crosses generational and cultural boundaries. All people need to feel heard and understood. Misunderstandings and silence can lead to separation. The daughter in this movie has lived in the United States without seeing her parents for twelve years. After she divorces, and after the death of her mother, her father comes to visit from China. What follows is an uncomfortable slice of life focusing on two people who barely know each other.

Yilung works at Gonzaga University in Spokane, Washington. When her father comes to visit, she barely makes time to see him, rushing off to work and coming home late. The father doesn't tell her he loves her, but he goes out and buys a wok and cooks for her every night, shorthand for "I love you" in almost any language. During his daily walk to the park, he meets an older Iranian woman and they talk about their kids. In Chinese. In English. In Farsi. With no subtitles. Yet subtitles aren't needed as the parents love and concern for their children comes through in each word, making their conversations understandable to them and us.

The strain between father and daughter only tightens until a wall cracks and truths emerge. Healing doesn't come overnight as with any relationship. They begin to understand each other better, as do we.

This film is shot simply, with few sets. Each of the performances was natural as if we were watching real people face the days. Henry O's performance of a father trying to cross a generational barrier with his daughter and a language barrier with the people in town was sympathetic. The father could also be frustrating when he failed to realize his grown daughter had her own wants and needs when he wanted to find her a good husband so that she didn't fail twice. Faye Yu, for the most part, gave the difficult performance of a daughter avoiding her father, seemingly ungrateful, all the while holding in a secret that kept a great chasm between them.

A Thousand Years of Good Prayers is slow and narrow in focus and definitely not for everyone. It is a simple, thoughtful film concentrating almost exclusively on two people and how presumptions and lack of communication brought them to a place in their lives where both felt lonely and hurt. If you like slice of life films, especially about families, this might be one to try.

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Details

  • Movie: A Thousand Years of Good Prayers
  • Country: China
  • Release Date: Sep 9, 2007
  • Duration: 1 hr. 23 min.
  • Content Rating: Not Yet Rated

Statistics

  • Score: 8.0 (scored by 9 users)
  • Ranked: #75577
  • Popularity: #99999
  • Watchers: 42

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