Huo zhe

Plot synopsis:
The story begins some time in the 1940s. Xu Fugui (Ge You) is a local rich man's son and compulsive gambler, who loses his family property to a man named Long'er. His behaviour also causes his long-suffering wife Jiazhen (Gong Li) to leave him, along with their daughter, Fengxia and their unborn son, Youqing.After he loses his entire family fortune, Fugui eventually reunites with his wife and children, but is forced to start a shadow puppet troupe with a partner named Chunsheng to support his family. The Chinese Civil War is occurring at the time, and both Fugui and Chunsheng are forcibly enlisted into the Kuomintang during a performance. After a heavy battle, Fugui and Chunsheng are captured by the forces of the Communist Party of China, where they quickly become entertainers for the troops. Eventually Fugui is able to return home and finds out that Fengxia has become dumb and lost most of her hearing due to a fever.After the CCP's victory, Fugui attends a local public trial where the new communist authority convicts Long'er of sabotaging the revolution. Long'er recognises Fugui, and tries to break free from the executioners, but he is brought back and shot. It turns out that Long'er did not want to donate any of his wealth to the "people's government", and when they tried to pressure him to do so, they only enraged him further so that he decided to burn all of his property instead of giving it away. No one helped to extinguish the fire due to Long'er's bad reputation, and he was designated a reactionary.The story moves forward a decade into the future, to the time of the Great Leap Forward. The local town chief enlists Fugui and Jiazhen to donate all scrap iron in their possession to the national drive to produce steel and make weaponry for invading Taiwan. As an entertainer, Fugui performs for the entire town, which has been devoted entirely to producing steel. Later, the district head, who turns out to be Chunsheng, inadvertently crushes and kills Youqing. At the gravesite of the boy, his mother leaves for him a lunchbox of 20 stale dumplings, which were intended as his lunch for school that day, plus 20 newly made dumplings. Chunsheng arrives at the grave, but his attempts to apologize and compensate the family are rebuffed.The story moves forward again another decade, to the Cultural Revolution. The village chief advises Fugui's family to burn their shadow puppet drama props, which have been deemed as counter-revolutionary as they are traditional cultural elements. Fengxia is now grown up. Her family arranges for her to meet Wan Erxi, a local leader of the Red Guards. They fall in love and marry.It is then revealed that Chunsheng, the district chief, has been branded a reactionary. He arrives late at night to inform Fugui and Jiazhen that his wife has committed suicide and he plans to do so also. Chunsheng wanted to give all of his money to Fugui's family as a form of his final apology and wished that they accept the money before his death. Jiazhen, who up to that point refused to talk to Chunsheng, tells him to keep living, because "you still owe us a life!"During Fengxia's childbirth, her parents and husband accompany her to the county hospital, where they find out that nurses are in charge as all doctors have been sent to do hard labor for being "reactionary academic authorities". The nurses tell the family that both the child and mother will be fine, but the family is skeptical, and manages to retrieve a doctor from confinement to oversee the birth. As the doctor has not eaten for several days, Fugui purchases seven steamed buns (mantou) for him and the family decides to name the son Mantou, after the buns. However, Fengxia begins to hemorrhage, and the nurses panic, admitting that they do not know what to do. The family and nurses seek the advice of the doctor, but find that he has overeaten and is semiconscious. The family is helpless, and Fengxia dies from hypovolemia. The point is made that the doctor ate 7 buns, but that by drinking too much water at the same time, each bun expanded to the size of 7 buns: therefore Fengxia's death is a result of the doctor's having the equivalent of 49 buns in his belly. (1949 was the year that the Chinese Communist Party cemented its hold on modern China.)The movie ends several years later, with the family now consisting of Fugui, Jiazhen, their son-in-law Erxi, and grandson Mantou. The family visits the graves of Youqing and Fengxia, where Jiazhen, as per tradition, leaves dumplings for her son. Erxi buys a box full of young chicks for his son, which they decide to keep in the chest formerly used for the shadow puppet props. When Mantou inquires how long it will take for the chicks to grow up, Fugui's response is a more tempered version of something he said earlier in the film, which shows that he no longer possesses the blind faith in communism he once had. However, in spite of all of his personal hardships, he expresses optimism for his grandson's future, and the film ends with his statement, "and life will get better and better" as the whole family sits down to eat.

Tags: realism, suspenseful, murder

Review:
Now that director Yimou Zhang ('Hero' & 'House of Flying Daggers') has become more popular, I'm hoping this will change.'Huozhe' or 'To Live' takes us on a trip in China that will last us from the 40's through the 70's.
Through that time, we will see life through the eyes of Fugui and Jiazhen, a husband and wife with 2 children, as well as Fugui's mother.Fugui, the husband, has a gambling problem which will set off a chain of events that will have them lose the house, and eventually separate the family.
Li Gong is beautiful, and portrays her character with such passion, it's no wonder she has been nominated nearly a dozen times, winning most.Emotional without being sappy, honest, & historically accurate, the film does have a black shroud covering it.
Most Chinese who lived through Mao's Revolution say this film tells it like it was at the simple townsperson level.
Both have some similarities, beyond the common appearance of Gong Li in front and Zhang Yimou behind the camera, but TO LIVE definitely confronts the political (I should really say "social") aspects of the decades they cover much more directly and forcefully.TO LIVE (aka LIFETIMES - I dunno what the Chinese name is) basically covers 3 or 4 decades of one family's life in China, in a period that saw not one but two revolutions, and looks at the effect the social upheaval had on ordinary people's lives.
The film rarely criticises the political movements instigated by Mao Tse Tung, but does an effective job of showing the hellishness of a society that has been turned on its head, where the people are forced to change not just the way they live but the way they think, and people are forced into social relationships that are new, and quite possibly against human nature.I hope I won't jeapordise my visa if I admit that I had strong leanings towards Communism when I was younger, having read Marx in philosophy classes.
Mao Tse Tung is, I guess, the undisputed king of Communist revolution, having led TWO of them in China, and probably disrupting more peoples' lives than anybody else in history in the process.
which makes him all the more likely to get one (and without the audience feeling used afterwards).In a career full of magnificent films, TO LIVE stands as one of Zhang Yimou's finest moments.
Yimou Zhang's "To Live" begins in the late 1940s and covers several decades in the life of Fugui (You Ge), his wife Jiazhen (Li Gong), and their two children.
At first, Fugui is the stereotypical "callow young man" and Jiazhen the even more stereotypical "long- suffering wife," but the screenplay and actors eventually deepen the characterizations.The best sequence of the film covers the Chinese Civil War. Wisely, Yimou Zhang resists the temptation to make the movie too epic, and instead focuses on Fugui's personal experiences.
After watching "To Live," it's easy to see why the Chinese authorities banned it: there's a lot of tragedy in the film, and in most cases, Communism is to blame.
In this way we know that the people have tamed the ox.Zhang's film is an epic parable of life in China in the 20th century.
He is lucky to have lost his fortune for now he is recognized as a hero of the revolution, while the man who won his family's house at dice is declared a counter-revolutionary and meets a bad end.As in every Zhang Yimou film I have seen, everything is beautifully and exquisitely done.
In another sense his depictions of the sins and excesses of the old regime before communism are so well done and appreciated by all, that such an expression also protects him.Nonetheless, I do not personally consider this Zhang Yimou's best film.
Of course Gong Li, one of the finest actresses of our time, who is often featured in Zhang Yimou's films, is outstanding as always.(Note: Over 500 of my movie reviews are now available in my book "Cut to the Chaise Lounge or I Can't Believe I Swallowed the Remote!" Get it at Amazon!).
Every time I watch it, and I know a particular heartbreaking scene is coming up, I almost want to turn it off, but I'm just frozen in place, forced to experience the pain of the people on screen, that I've traveled three decades with.
This movie, which was banned in mainland China for "Questionable" outlooks on the communist party, is one of the best movies I have seen thus far.It is easy to dismiss this movie as a "Sad period piece," but with another look, one sees that this is a story about triumph...
The title, "To Live," is very apt, as we see the rises and falls of one small family living through the ups and downs of China during the pre-revolutionary era, the civil war, the Great Leap Forward, the Proletariat Cultural Revolution, and beyond.This movie is at turns dramatic, humorous, touching, chilling, heart-wrenching, and triumphant.
Even better is the infusion of comic touches all the way through, the dialogue (even in subtitle form) is great and is witty and touching  I laughed out loud many times.Not having seen any other films by Zhang, I can only hope they are as good as this one.
It was akin to a Buddhist mandala to me, a cosmic picture directing me to find my own place in the center of things, choose repose over madness.Zhang by contrast here wanders unconstrained, under the auspice of history, aiming for a full chronicle of sorts of Chinese life as a family moves through the decades.
The stage backdrop changes frequently; Civil war, Great Leap, Cultural Revolution.We do still have the turning of cycles and it does create a (cosmic) picture; a life of comfort squandered by the man's ignorance who loses it all, to one of hardship and quiet abiding.
Ge You gives a consummate performance, and it is through his eyes that we view the story; Gong Li, though not lavished with the attention Zhang Yimou usually gives her, provides the heart and soul of the film.
As much as I have been transported by some of Zhang's epics in the way he manages to play with that kind of feeling and develops an interesting sense in the beauty of the images through colorful surroundings, graceful gestures and the the sometimes tragic intensity of themes of the ancient mystified past of the Chinese culture.
To live is one of the most heart wrenching,soul stirring film i have ever seen.Its got great acting,great cinematography,dialogues,music and direction which makes it a real gem of world cinema.Even the subtitles didn't look like a difficult task to read considering how brilliant,sad yet uplifting the film was.Its hard to believe that the main protagonist endured and suffered so much pain in the film yet had the heart and strength to carry on with their lives with a smile on their face.A brave film about a family who choose to live under every possible bad circumstance.I am proud i watched this Chinese film being an Indian.Go for it even if you don't know Chinese because this film deserves more recognition world wide..
Although the 1994 film is not an overt criticism of Mao's regime (to do so would be politically unwise for the filmmakers), the effects of the Great Leap Forward and the Cultural Revolution have devastating effects on Fu Gui's family.
To live A surprisingly poignant movie of Zhang targeting Mao's mistakes and ruthless personal agenda over people's well being, rendering every individual in China suffering from the results of Mao's sick minded political movements.
China, still a land of lack of freedom of speech, albeit much better than Mao's time, Zhang was able to make such a movie rife with hidden and conspicuous messages projecting the ultimate human tragedy at such a scale that no other human histories can match or parallel it, not even the Holocaust or the massacre of Armenians by the Turks, or the Nanking massacre of Chinese by the Japanese troops.This suffering lasted 30 years and beyond.
Based on a very famous book with the same name and after some slight modifications, the movie mercylessly pictures a normal Chinese's tragic life, reflecting almost all important times in recent China.
They really do with the same idea.After 10 years, people still not live rich enough, and thanks for Chairman Mao's same eagerness, a new 'revolution' began which brought China in its worst depth in recent history.
The story weaves in and out of several decades, showing the times of the Chinese communist takeover, and it's direct effect on one family.
Tragedy all throughout the movie, with a war in the beginning, then the loss of the main character's son, then later on the loss of the daughter giving birth to a child.And all of that mixed with a gloomy atmosphere of a rather poor family in China, in once again gloomy times.
I would like to second the positive things which have been said and recommend the film to those who would like to get a "feel" for what it must have been like to have gone through some of what the Chinese people who experienced it first hand live through.
It shows the struggles of one family through the Chinese Civil War, The Great Leap Forward, The Cultural Revolution, and beyond.
Zhang Yimou, the greatest director in the history of Chinese film, and one of the greatest of all directors from all countries, was a master with the camera; and he captures all of the misery that China went through during these decades.
Gong Li, the greatest Chinese actress of all time, who would go on to make several other gems for Zhang, gives an Academy Award-level performance, as does the male lead, Ge You. This is one of best half-dozen films ever made in China.
But in the end, it tells the story so well, like being born in China under surreal cultural revolution wasn't enough, some people are simply more unfortunate than others thanks to fate.
The movie is about one family life before the communist take over to the 70s where almost end of cultural revolution.
This scene is played with such truthfulness that at points you feel you are watching a slice of real life and not a big budget Chinese movie.Yimou Zhang is one of the best Directors alive today if not the best.
"To Live" (1994)"To Live" is a Chinese film directed by Zhang Yimou in 1994, starring Ge You and Gong Li. It is based on the novel of the same name by Yu Hua. Although not the grandest or most epic recall of 20th century China, (that honour would go to Chen Kai Ge's Farewell My Concubine) 'To Live' is the most intimate and touching tale of that dark period of Chinese history.
We are taken through the Chinese Civil War, The Great Leap Forward and Cultural Revolution, and never deter from the main focus of a couple who, from prosperity to poverty, struggle to keep a family together through these turbulent times.
What the masterful Zhang Yimou manages to do best is not be in any way manipulative and still honor the resiliency of Fugui and Jiahzen in the face of political change, bureaucratic incompetence, and personal loss.'To Live' brings you so close to characters it feels like you can touch them, and as the closing credits roll you are left with such admiration for the brave souls that survived totalitarian rule.
I agreed with one of the comments which says 'To Live' is very similar to Chen KaiGe's 'Fairwell my concubine', both were epic films, both stories revolved around the same period of time and the same political event that happened in China.
The reason why i think this should be the Best Zhang Yi Mou's film ever is because the plot is so simple to follow, in fact, it's almost plot-less; one simply follows those characters along, surviving through the various mishaps in life and the relentless political upheavals which disrupted many people's life at the time.
We learn about the characters not through their dialogue and actor characterizations, but through their actions in the scores of vignettes we see span their lives.The film begins in the forties, while China was still under imperial control, and follows one couple through the fifties, when communism took over, to the tragedy of the cultural revolution in the sixties.
I could spend the rest of my life watching their lives.Zhang Yimou not only knows how to create a masterpiece on film, he knows where to end it.
However, Zhang Yimou brought us to a point where the movie ends, and we know that life will continue in the same fashion that it always has:  with inconsistencies in joy and pain.This is, by far, one of the ten best films EVER made, and, I feel, Zhang Yimou's best work.10/10.
Gong Li is a wonderful actress and I think this is her best film.This film tracks the life of a family through the years of China's communist take over.
Of course, there will be orders that come from the top and that, conversely, are the media employees who bear the responsibility.Zhang Yimou, without doubt one of the most qualified directors of contemporary cinema and perhaps the number one in China, seems to have the best memories of the Cultural Revolution and movies like "Ju Dou" or "Raise the Red Lantern" which, as this, critics buried the unfortunate actions of the regime, have cost censorship and close supervision to all their projects.
Full of variegated hues, the Xu family life is intense, and she - like any other Family - emerge roses and thorns, while, with great subtlety, Yimou is giving subtle details of the oppression that obscures the legendary, and no doubt significant, under Mao. And if anyone wants to see indirect allusions to what the Chinese now live, you may find something that makes you nod.And there are things like perseverance brings reward, and the good that is hidden in all evil, or as inherent serenity to accept what goes against what is expected, this inspiring film, let us reach for a good reflection.And remember: ¡Whatever happens, you must live!, ¡This is the decision of the brave!.
This is a powerful Chinese war drama, a story about Fugui (You Ge) and Jiazhen (Li Gong), who after losing their personal fortunes, raise a family during the challenging cultural changes in 1940s - 1970s, China.The acting was spot-on, especially that of Li Gong, who gave a strong and touching portrayal of Jiazhen - sticking by her husband during the tough times and raising their two children.The plot was solid and well-paced, touching on each aspect of the cultural revolution, from government forces going against traditionalism to comrades praising Chairman Mao and the rise of the Communist Party.
Throughout all these changes, Fugui, Jiazhen and their family tread on to survive, just as their fellow villagers do in these trying times - all demonstrating the meaning of the movie's title, "To Live." There are definitely scenes where it will send you river of tears, and remind you of nostalgia, good old days, trials and tribulations and the desires for better days ahead.Grade A.
i've watched the other chinese films that set through out cultural revolution from the other 5th generation director, Farewell My Concubine and Blue Kite, and all i can say is that To Live tell what happened there in more sophisticated way, he tell us softly and gently, but still satire enough, to help us to get the point of what happened without such chaos scene that really rip my heart, how terrified was there at that time.this is the great film, the drama well written..the sad, the happiness, the frightened, the joy..
People who are used to Zhang Yimou's films are probably also used to the endings of his movies not making any sense.
Political orthodoxy dominated the lives of the Chinese people, whether they had any interest in political matters or not.The fact that this film was banned in China, and Zhang Yimou & Gong Li were punished by their government, is proof (if more proof were needed) that authoritarianism is not yet dead in China.
Zhang Yimou has painted a pair of wonderful lives that endured the Communist Civil War, the "Great Leap Forward", and the Cultural Revolution.
All North American Chinese should watch this film to understand our people, our families and ourselves..
Through their eyes, we get a glimpse of what life must have been like for an average person in those days.The story begins with Fugui gambling away his family's home.
Ironically, this set-back saves the family; the Cultural Revolution arrives, and with China's shift to nascent communism, all wealthy land owners are demonised, attacked and killed.Unlike most films which tackle life under Mao's Great Leap Forward, "To Live" carefully juggles the good and bad of what was essentially a nation shirking off feudalism, monarchs, uniting and then trying, clumsily, to cook up some form of egalitarian society.
The film follows the lives of Fugui, his wife Jiazhen, and their children Fengxia and Youqing, and depicts the manner in which Chinese families had to cope and adapt to the drastic upheaval in order to avoid being labelled a "capitalist" or a "reactionary" and suffer retribution.
This film tells a story of a husband（Fugui) and a wife(Jiazhen) and how how they manage to live through China's tumultuous periods.The time line of the story is quite long.
"To Live" is another fine movie by Zhang Yimou.This movie starts just when China was turning to Communism, and is a wonderful history lesson because it is told from the perspective of this family going though all the changes.There is also an ironic type of almost humor in the movie.
His wife, Jiazhen, cried with joy when he appeared in her doorsteps.The film also depicted China's history and it is effect on Fugui's family.