Message from jdoll

[Anonymous]

As Roger Ebert described it, “‘To Live’ is a simple title, but it conceals a universe.” Indeed, “To Live” is a remarkable movie in that it deftly balances the complexity of interpersonal relationships with an epic span of intense historical change. It is all the more remarkable when we understand the constraints and risks the filmmaker, Zhang Yimou, faced in order to make it. The film ran afoul of China’s State Administration of Radio, Film, and Television (SARFT), who banned Yimou and lead actress Gong Li from working for two years. This movie could be used to convey a sort of compressed timeline of Chinese History from the period spanning the triumph of the communists in the Chinese Civil War to the ill-fated Cultural Revolution. Although the film is not explicit in its history, the story and the portrayal of the characters packs an emotional punch that profoundly affects the viewer. Because they will care about the characters, students will naturally want to learn more about this period of Chinese history. The film revolves around Fugui, his wife Jiazhen, and their children, and spans a period of nearly four decades. The film takes them through the communist victory in the Chinese Civil War and several other important events in modern Chinese history. Fugui begins as a wealthy layabout with a gambling problem. When he loses everything in a dice game, his pregnant wife leaves him and he is forced to make a living as a puppeteer. He plies his craft, first with the Kuomintang (he is conscripted) and then with the communists (liberated? conscripted?), and is finally reunited with his wife and children. Fugui’s “riches to rags” experience proves to be a blessing in disguise as the landlord class falls prey to the revolution (as is played out by the unfortunate winner of Fugui’s house and possessions). From there the family experiences the Great Leap Forward (1958-1961) and the Cultural Revolution (1966-1976), each period bringing with it profound joy, uncertainty, and loss. In each of these epochs Fugui and Jiazhen endure personal tragedies that are a subtext for the greater calamities endured by the Chinese people. The Great Leap forward is portrayed as a time of blind optimism, showing communist party members urging citizens to ever greater efforts to meet quotas and surpass the productivity of their enemies. In a heartbreaking scene, Fugui and Jiazhen’s son is killed in an accident, an avoidable tragedy and a microcosm of the reckless policies that would leave millions of Chinese dead from starvation. Later, Fugui and Jiazhen lose their daughter during childbirth because there are no experienced doctors to assist her when she begins hemorrhaging. The tragedy is foreshadowed when they are told by a cheery young “Red Guard” nurse that all the doctors had been “sent away” because they were “reactionaries.” This criticism of the Cultural Revolution is what invoked the ire of Chinese censors and the reason ZhangYimou and Gong Li were banned. The film ends on a happy note, however, as Fugui and Jiazhen enter their elder years, they have their grandson and son-in-law to comfort them. Although life has been hard they have survived with their humanity and dignity intact.