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Poster for A Thousand Years of Good Prayers

A Thousand Years of Good Prayers

2007 · 1h 23m · Unrated Drama
Directed by Wayne Wang

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Overview

The film follows Mr. Shi, a retired widower from Beijing. When his only daughter, Yilan, who lives in Spokane, Washington and works as a librarian, gets divorced, he decides to visit her to help her heal. However, Yilan is not interested. She tries keeping an emotional distance but when this finally fails she begins physically avoiding her father. He confronts her about an affair with a married Russian man and she, in turn, lets loose about all the gossip she'd heard as a young girl about his alleged affair with a female colleague back in China.

Director and cast

Critics on Rotten Tomatoes

Top critics, in their words

All reviews
79%
Tomatometer
Fresh

As in most of Wang's films, a memorable cast of characters compensates for a serviceable plot.

Joshua Katzman, Chicago Reader
Fresh

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.

Carrie Rickey, Philadelphia Inquirer
Fresh

Wang's approach is measured and restrained, his shots simple and immaculate, the emotional stakes deepening scene by scene. It's a miniature gem.

Colin Covert, Minneapolis Star Tribune
Rotten

A quiet work with Ozu-like structure and concerns, but remains more an intellectual exercise than one from the heart.

Todd McCarthy, Variety
Fresh

A Thousand Years of Good Prayers feels like a fragile wafer of a movie, but it fills you like a three-course meal.

Ty Burr, Boston Globe

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