This is a $10 million Canada-China co-production (our first in 22 years, supposedly), based on a 2001 opera (!) and filmed in both countries (mostly China), which aired here on CBC TV as a miniseries (don't know if China's seen it yet). A 95-minute feature version played in Canada's bigger markets, and may be the export version as well.

The subject matter is the building of the country's transcontinental railway and the harsh conditions faced by the many Chinese immigrants who came here to help build it, dreaming of a better future for themselves that didn't fully materialize. Not sure the "girl disguised as a boy" romantic subplot is reflective of any reality, but it makes for good drama, I suppose.

I happened to see the Canadian DVD release of this in stores here and was intrigued about it's worthiness for inclusion. Obviously, I think it should be here in some form, WITH the appropriate qualifiers such as "TV Movie/MIniseries" and multiple countries of origin, both of which, of course, we still can't properly put in place because no structural changes have been made to accommodate them.

Anyways, the series was directed and edited by David Wu, a Toronto resident known for his editing work on many HK classics. The cast includes Betty Sun Li and Tony Leung Ka-fai alongside Sam Neill, Peter O'Toole, Luke Macfarlane (probably not the best choice for a hetero-interracial romance, but he seems to give it his best), Charlotte Sullivan, et al.

Trailer:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2rO7PE2JMiQ

Film Website (with bios of principal cast and crew):
http://www.ironroadthemovie.com/

CBC Article:
http://www.cbc.ca/arts/film/story/2009/ ... -road.html

IMDB listing:
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1013119/fullcredits#cast

We cannot add TV Mini-series in our DB yet. We only can add them when there is a re-edited version released in theaters of HK or Mainland China, but not when is a re-edition made for Western distributors for theaters of Western countries.

You must wait a few years more.

Figured that was coming.

Darned internet. Why does it have to evolve so slowly?

Oh, wait a minute, it doesn't! We do.

Thanks anyways.

You can always add it as an external link , say to the imdb, from your favorite actor/actress in it. Just a (repeated) thought.

dleedlee wrote:You can always add it as an external link , say to the imdb, from your favorite actor/actress in it. Just a (repeated) thought.

I've buried quite a few little nuggets like that in the DB over the years, so a few more can't hurt.