A Thousand Years of Good Prayers (2007)
Average Rating: 6.8/10
Reviews Counted: 38
Fresh: 30 | Rotten: 8
Though it may not be as profound as its pacing would suggest, A Thousand Years of Good Prayers delicately examines familial issues in an earnest fashion.
Average Rating: 6.9/10
Critic Reviews: 16
Fresh: 14 | Rotten: 2
Though it may not be as profound as its pacing would suggest, A Thousand Years of Good Prayers delicately examines familial issues in an earnest fashion.
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Average Rating: 3.1/5
User Ratings: 839
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Movie Info
Wayne Wang's intimate drama A Thousand Years of Good Prayers stars Henry O as Mr. Shi, a Chinese man who, after the death of his wife, decides to travel to the United States in order to see his estranged daughter for the first time in over a decade. Their time together is awkward at first, seeing each other only at dinner when he cooks for her. Shi spends his days taking in the strange culture, improving his language skills, and making a friend in an Iranian woman. Eventually his persistent
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Cast
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Henry O
Mr. Shi -
Faye Yue
Yilan -
Vida Ghahremani
Madame -
Pasha D. Lychnikoff
Boris -
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All Critics (40) | Top Critics (16) | Fresh (30) | Rotten (8)
As in most of Wang's films, a memorable cast of characters compensates for a serviceable plot.
Top CriticA keenly observed portrait of a parent and child estranged by geography, language, ideology and generation. In other words, a universal story of family in the age of globalization.
Wang's approach is measured and restrained, his shots simple and immaculate, the emotional stakes deepening scene by scene. It's a miniature gem.
A quiet work with Ozu-like structure and concerns, but remains more an intellectual exercise than one from the heart.
A Thousand Years of Good Prayers feels like a fragile wafer of a movie, but it fills you like a three-course meal.
An intensely observed, small-scale family drama involving disagreement between generations.
Quizás el film más personal de Wayne Wang, un sobrio y cálido relato sobre las barreras culturales, idiomáticas o emocionales que suelen separar a los seres humanos.
Wang's new film suggests not only a return to form but also the revival of an old theme from his early Asian-American dramedies: the different ways that certain generations translate and adapt their cultural heritage
Well-written, beautifully shot, and meticulously acted
This is a nice, quietly heartwarming film. The tone really got through to me. I never laughed out loud, but always had a steady grin. Charming.
It's a short story of a movie: delicate, modest, beautifully observed.
A lovely film of small intentions, yet embellished with an enormous heart.
Touching look at a father's and daughter's strained relationship as they struggle through gaps of culture, language, gender, and historical context.
The minor key and quietly observational work is not earth-shattering or particularly urgent, though it enables a talented filmmaker to work through personal ideas about assimilation and family conflict in an open, smart and gracious way.
Meticulously paced and beautifully shot.
A Chinese father visiting his Americanized daughter in Washington finds communication difficult, but the film offers rewards for the patient.
Audience Reviews for A Thousand Years of Good Prayers
Super Reviewer
Henry O, Feihong Yu, Vida Ghahremani, and Pasha D. Lychnikoff stars. Worthy!
Super Reviewer
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Latest News on A Thousand Years of Good Prayers
September 16, 2008:
Wayne Wang Gets Personal With New FilmsAfter making a detour into middle-of-the-road studio fare, director Wayne Wang has moved back into...
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Foreign Titles
- Un millier d'années de bonnes prières (FR)
- Mil años de oración (ES)
[font=Century Gothic][/font]
[font=Century Gothic]Her benign neglect reminded me of "Tokyo Story" in its lamenting of how badly treated the elderly are in society but in this case, it runs both ways, a reminder of how it is the generation gap that makes communication even more difficult than any language barrier. For example, despite his limited command of English, Shi manages well on his own and makes the acquaintance of others including a pair of Mormon missionaries. They quote from the Book of Mormon to which he replies with a quote from Marx.(I'll have to remember that for future reference...) This just goes to show that Shi is from a generation when Communism was still the orthodoxy in China. But now, he lives in a country that has changed massively and traveled to a strange country that he seeks to comprehend.[/font]