Getting Home

Getting Home (simplified Chinese: 落叶归根; traditional Chinese: 落葉歸根; pinyin: Lùo yè gūi gēn) is a 2007 comedy drama film directed by Zhang Yang and starring Chinese comedian Zhao Benshan. A Chinese-Hong Kong co-production, the film is episodic and follows two workers in their 50s, Zhao (Zhao Benshan) and Liu (Hong Qiwen). It opens when Liu unexpectedly dies after a night of drinking and Zhao decides to fulfill a promise to his friend to get him home, beginning a long odyssey from Shenzhen to Chongqing with Liu's corpse on his back. Along the way, Zhao meets a variety of figures, played by several of China's better known character actors. Getting Home is Zhang Yang's fifth feature film. It was produced by Filmko Entertainment of Hong Kong and the Beijing Jinqianshengshi Culture Media company of the People's Republic of China. International sales and distribution was by Fortissimo Films out of Amsterdam. Getting Home's original title derives from a Chinese proverb meaning "A falling leaf returns to its roots." It is apparently based on a true story.