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: 6.8/10
Critic Reviews: 14
Fresh: 12 | 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.
liked it
Average Rating: 3.6/5
User Ratings: 765
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
Sep 19, 2008 Limited
May 26, 2009
Magnolia Pictures
All Critics (39) | Top Critics (14) | Fresh (30) | Rotten (8)
As in most of Wang's films, a memorable cast of characters compensates for a serviceable plot.
A 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.
The emptiness felt by Yiyun Li's characters doesn't seem as much the result of an emotional void than a too-thin plot.
Sensitively directed by Wayne Wang, "A Thousand Years of Good Prayers" is a deeply moving film about Shi(Henry O), a retired rocket scientist and widower, going to vist his daughter Yilan(Faye Yu) in America. Yilan at first eats dinner with her father but soon gets annoyed and starts avoiding him which is strange
September 29, 2008Super Reviewer
A captivating movie that follows a lonely widower's journey to see his estranged daughter in America. Leaving poignant memories behind in China, Mr. Shi truly hopes that he can reconnect with his daughter, Yilan, and set upon a path where he can truly embrace the genuine meaning of family and fatherhood. He enters a
July 26, 2008Super Reviewer
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