Together (Film from China)

TOGETHER
He ni zai yi qi (original title)
Made in China

by Kaige Chen (Director, Writer and Actor)
2003





This is a story about love, commitment, and sacrifice. I must see this film again and again. The story is so attractive to me because the father loves his son so much. The sacrifice that the father makes to help his son learn the violin to his greatest potential is astounding. His father leaves his village with the boy in order for him to enter a music competition. The winner will be able to take lessons from a famous violin teacher. This will establish their future and help them to live a good life.

The boy should win this competition by a landslide and doesn't because the father is not from the city, nor has the correct family heritage, neither has paid a bribe to any judges. So, then, he finds another teacher who is brilliant, but is really down and out on his luck. This man loves to hear the boy play the violin, but is so wrapped up in his own problems, he doesn't help him enough to succeed. But in the end, the boys endless lessons lifts the teacher up from his downward state of mind. But this is too late because the father has already obtained new lessons from the master teacher who will bring success to the boy.

When the final competition draws near, the father decides to return to his village without the boy. The boy is so devastated that he cannot play in the competition, and goes to find his father. He realizes all the love and sacrifice that the father has given him and cannot perform without him by his side. The father had not realized how much the boy needed him. He thought that just giving him a good life would sustain him and fulfill him. But, the boy, like many of us, want the relationship with his father, not the success of life. Yes, the boy loves to play the violin, but he loves his father more and needs him in his life.

Of course, there is so much more to this story, but I don't want to give it all away. If you love music, you will love this story. If you are looking for a story about love, commitment and sacrifice, this is the movie for you.