To Live (1994)

That was an excellent one.

Disappointment for a huge fan!

Am I Missing Something?

The tone of this movie is interesting -- the stakes are both dramatic and high, but it's balanced with a lot of fun, tongue and cheek dialogue.

As an American viewer with no experience with China outside of a classroom, book, or film, I was unsure how well I would be able to grasp the intensely emotional personal stories of "To Live", considering their intersection with the political developments which envelop the film's characters and the events which shape their lives. The Chinese Revolution in 1949 and the subsequent regime of Mao Tse Tung, including Mao's Cultural Revolution, are formative events for modern China. Together with the Great Leap Forward, the Cultural Revolution is considered part of the great disaster that was Mao's efforts to consolidate power and spread socialism following the Revolution. In front of this backdrop, we witness the lives of Fu Gui and his wife, Jia Zhen, as well as their family and friends. 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. Fu Gui and his family, as a whole, makes huge sacrifices (which the viewer will have to see for him/herself). The purges and political upheaval of the Cultural Revolution effect Fu Gui, his family, and their friends and neighbors, and an uprising of young against old, medical students against their doctors (symbolic of many student rebellions at this time) cause huge stirs and risks. The risky, paranoid, challenging, and life-changing effects of Mao Tse Tung's regime are well-captured in this film, and Westerners would certainly benefit from this perspective, which captures not only the bad, but the good or inoffensive qualities of Chinese life at this time. Not only that, but the character of Fu Gui might inspire any viewer (not to emulate him, but to avoid his mistakes).

Every life is bound to be born and last in a certain period. 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. It starts from China's civil war to the Emancipation of China and then to the times of great leap forward and finally to the cultural revolution till its end. As for the characters, the status of Fugui and Jiazhen also changes from landlord to peasant.Due to the habit of gambling, Fugui lost all fortunes of the family, which accidentally saves his family as, with the communist party coming into power, they become peasants and avoid the fate of being killed. Later on, their son dies of an accident when melting irons in the times of great leap forward when all metals of every family are collected to produce irons. Their daughter dies of hemorrhoid when delivering her baby during cultural revolution when all the doctors and professionals are criticized and replaced by Red Guards who are not equipped with sufficient medical knowledge.To a large extent, the fate of Fugui's family is beyond the control of themselves. As opposed to an era, one person's life is like a grain of corn in the wild sea. However, no matter how harsh the living environment is, they make efforts to live because only when alive, one can feel hope.As the old sayings goes, it is better to live indecently than to die decently. In one word, what the common people need fundamentally is to live.

This is the best movie that I have ever seen.I watched this movie because I was taking a class on the politics of China. When I saw that this movie covered such an expansive time period I thought "great, I will learn something." That I did. I cried, I cheered, I stayed up very late... I made my then future husband watch it... he liked it too, not as much as I do.I tell everyone in conversations about movies that this one is my all time favorite. It took the place of American Beauty, a movie that I have watched about eleven times.So, I recommend it. If I had a lot of money I would pay people to watch this. It is THAT great.

I usually don't really watch movies from China but after watching a few titles such as Not one less and a few more to name including this one I must say I'm moved by movies from China. The movie is about one family life before the communist take over to the 70s where almost end of cultural revolution. The movie is perfectly done and pictures are perfectly shot. The realistic of the movie and the beautifully shot pictures made me stick to my chair without moving and wonder what happen next. This is a master piece indeed. I agree with the previous poster its a shame indeed that this movie is not popular. This apply the same with all other China movie. I suppose the promotion is not hot enough to bring the China cinema to all over the world. People just don't aware that they exist. When you go to the Cd's store, almost 99% of the movies are hardcore action or love and sex movies putting out by Hollywood. I really recommend this movie to all viewer.