OllieSuave-007
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
Cole McCreary
Very often in movies that approach the subject of social revolution, a lot of screen time is committed to the more horrific aspects of it. This makes sense- violence puts asses in seats, as they say. However there is something to be said about a movie that instead delves to a more personal level, and shows just how much a system to devalues the individual can affect a family. To Live does this, and the impact it brings is notable. Xu Fugui and his family experience the communist revolution in China at all stages, and at every stage something is lost. Fugui loses his child during the drive for industry in the Great Leap Forward. Fugui loses his daughter during childbirth when all the doctors are thrown away during the Cultural Revolution. By showing these events, one very much gets involved with Fugui and his family. You root for him to succeed, even though there is no really no hint that he will. You root for his family to overcome the misfortunes that are thrown at him, even though you know that Fugui is almost helpless in the face of them. In all the struggles however, a few moments of happiness are seen. A few moments that show that even during the more chaotic times in China, people still found a way to live.
jrl0726
This film, after multiple viewings, has reached the top of Zhang Yimou's large list of great ones. It is a film which never ends for the viewer. The tapestry of characters, events and scenes is so rich that the viewer wants it to go on indefinitely. The two leads are magnificent and Gong Li is perhaps the world's greatest contemporary actress. She combines Garbo like screen presence and Bancroft like acting range into one sensational performer. Zhang Yimou is quite simply, the greatest living director and ranks with Huston, Fellini, Fleming and Kubrick. This is a film about life and people more than politics and ideology and will be just as riveting a thousand years from now. In the all-time top ten of all films.
info-16951
My disbelief resisted suspension. For one thing, no wife, anywhere, would be dumb (or masochistic) enough to return to such an irredeemable reprobate. Also, since Everyman's misery was self-inflicted, he never seemed worthy of redemption. The scenes of the Civil War seemed gratuitous plot-padding. I could go on, but to my taste, Japanese movies of the 1950s were much more subtle than this episodic, overambitious oeurve manqué. De gustibus non est disputandum. Line added to meet silly 10-line requirement. Line added to meet silly 10-line requirement. Line added to meet silly 10-line requirement. Line added to meet silly 10-line requirement.
AD
