The Road Home is simply one of the most beautiful films you will ever see. Its gorgeous cinematography is matched perfectly with a simple yet heartwarming love story like no other. Director Yimou Zhang has intelligently crafted a film that perfectly captures the sweet joy and utter heartbreak of true love. The only nudity here is that of the heart, as Zhang shows us its naked beauty and capacity to endure over time.

Based on Bao Shi’s book “Remembrance,” Luo Yusheng (Honglei Sun) returns home after his father dies and the story of his parent’s romance is related. Another filmmaker might have used black and white for the flashbacks, but director Zhang wisely uses black and white photography in the present day and beautiful color for the memories, to contrast the present sorrow to the joy of the past.

Yusheng finds his mother heartbroken at his father’s death but determined his coffin be carried by hand over the rivers and through the mountains to the village. It is an ancient ritual of superstition carried out in the past so the dead will never forget their way home. It is a road that holds great meaning for his mother and father. Yusheng is reluctant at first until he looks at a photo of his parents and remembers their story of love.

Talented Ziyi Zhang gives a sweet and beautiful performance as Zhao Di. She takes care of her blind mother who it is said lost her sight from all the tears shed at her father’s death. Di is sweet and sought after but has refused all the attempts at arranged marriages which are the norm for girls in her village. But when she sees for the first time the new young teacher and hears his voice, she immediately falls in love.

The women cannot take part in the building of the schoolhouse as it is against tradition, but they prepare meals every day for the workers and Di spends much time laboring over her onion cakes and other dishes in the hopes Luo Changyu (Hao Zheng) will pick her special bowl that day. Their courtship is made up of glances and smiles. Once the school is built Di takes water from the well near the school in spite of the greater distance and hardship simply to hear his voice and sometimes catch sight of him from a distance.

She sits and waits by the road every day to see he and the children go by singing. She finally devises a ruse to actually speak to him and it is then that we know he loves her too, even though nothing is said. Ziyi Zhang gives a terrific performance of subtle nuance, conveying all the uncertainty of first love. When it is she and her mother’s turn to have him for dinner he promises to return to sample her mushroom dumplings. But he must return to the city because of political difficulties and gives her a hair clasp to go with her red jacket.

The scene where she rushes after him running with her special bowl of mushroom dumplings is one of the greatest love scenes ever filmed, and will surely bring anyone with a heart to tears. As the date he hopes to return approaches during a snowy winter, there is an ache in the viewer’s heart as well. Director Zhang uses these elements to parallel her emotions; bleak and cold when Luo is gone, and sunny and colorful when he is there. When she nearly dies waiting on his return he comes to see her and it costs them two more years apart. The mayor and the whole village know of Di’s love by then, but a love of choice is something new to all of them.

The memories of their love story prompts Di’s modern son to fulfill his mother’s request at all costs. Many of his father’s students join the long trek so he can be buried by that well to wait on his mother. It will prompt Luo Yusheng to fulfill another request of his mother’s and bring back more loving memories of the past in this wonderful film filled with love and joy.

Breathtaking cinematography, exquisite performances, and a tenderness all-too-rarely captured by the camera make The Road Home a film you absolutely must see. ( )