The stunningly successful team of Chinese actress Gong Li and director Zhang Yimou come together once again to produce another beautiful movie to add to their legacy.Set against the Cultural Revolution and the years in the aftermath, Coming Home (based on the story by noted Chinese writer Geling Yan), focuses on a husband and wife who are separated when the husband Lu (a brilliant, understated performance by Chen Daoming) is sent away for "re-education," leaving his wife Feng (the incomparable Gong Li) and young daughter Dan Dan behind. Ten years later, a brief encounter occurs and the repercussions from that meeting form the basis for the rest of this emotionally engaging and heartbreaking character study.Superficially, Coming Home is a heart-rending love story. Underneath, it speaks to the tragedies that linger long after the political landscape has shifted. It amazes me that Yimou is able to produce these movies in today’s China, despite the governmental oversight of all art (the film won the Golden Lotus for best movie in 2014). While not an in-your-face indictment of the policies that underlie the plot, it does force the viewer to consider the long-term effects of Mao’s years in power. Regardless, Coming Home is a gorgeously filmed, emotionally draining, and thought-provoking powerhouse of a film.The Blu-ray disc offers a commentary from the director as well as a Q & A with him from the Toronto Film Festival.