another life blog

活着

Since my parents were in town, I rented a series of Chinese films from Blockbuster to satiate the possible boredom that arises every once in a while. I really didn’t expect much, since I haven’t heard of this film, nor the other I rented ~ I got them simply because they ranked highly amongst home viewers. I must say, I’m pleasantly surprised by the depth of both films and the quality of production.

To Live is a curious title ~ it can mean so many things, and in Hollywood, rather over used. However, Yimou Zhang’s film took place in a forbidden land, mostly during the era of censorship (and still going strong) ~ thus, giving it a flavor unlike any other I’ve ever seen. It bears the quality of truth so realistic and immediate, that there’s no turning away from. To Live, is a movie about China between 1940s to 1980s, of when it went from monarchy, to nationalist, and finally to socialist — all in a period of great turmoil and unrest.

The story begins with a young man of about 25 years old. He has a daughter and wife heavy with child. The man isn’t very conscientious about money, nor his family in general. He loves one thing, to gamble! Unfortunate, the lady luck is rarely walking with him, and he eventually lost his entire fortune as well as the deed to his house. Upon signing over the house, his father died of heart attack, his wife left him, and he is left all alone without a job and savings. Soon, the story takes a turn for the worse, as the land he is living in became engulfed in war then the dictatorship of Mao Ze Dong, he find himself doing all sorts of things in order to stay alive. … to stay alive, is his motto – because tomorrow might be a better day.

To Live is a sad movie, but then, it’s “not.” You see these poor common townfolks, living under the rule of the socialist party, and you know they live in fear ~ but then, they also have their own small pleasures which keeps them going and happy. No matter what hardships come their way, they’re grateful they aren’t like their neighbor who got shot 5 times. Watching the movie, made me thought of Sword of Truth except… better! It doesn’t preach about the evils of socialist party, or how wrong it is to lay low in order to survive. Sure, they’re contributing to the greater evil by allowing small evils to pass by them constantly, but without a leader to rally around, what can they possibly do?

I’m rambling now… but I really enjoyed watching the film. It’s not really epic in the classical sense, but it will make you appreciate the freedom of the American way.

This entry was posted on Saturday, May 27th, 2006 at 2:14 am and is filed under Movies and Music. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.