Movie Masterworks

“I’m not asking much. Only to live a quiet life together.”

Synopsis: If To Live’s title, as Roger Ebert says, “conceals a universe,” then watching this engrossing, exhilarating and extravagant film surely reveals one. Winner of the Grand Jury Prize and Best Actor awards at the Cannes Film Festival, this epic film from China’s most renowned director Zhang Yimou (Oscar® nominee for ‘Ju Dou’ and ‘Raise the Red Lantern’), unveils a world worthy of “a Chinese Gone With the Wind” (The New York Observer)! Set against four decades of Chinese political turmoil, ‘To Live’ follows the lives of one couple, Fugui and Jiazhen (Ge You and Gong Li), as they struggle to survive their own changing station within the upheaval. As the years go by, bringing bizarre twists, tragic losses…and profound hope, Fugui and his family persevere, striving to reach a calm within the storm so they can do the one thing they’ve always wanted to do: To Live.

Critique: “I believe that for a long time now Chinese films have been too abstract, conceptual, gimmicky. They don’t relate at all to the lives of ordinary Chinese people. I’m certain that most audiences will like this film. We haven’t gone overboard on the tragic elements, but rather have focused on the minute, amusing details in the life of a nobody. There are tears and laughter, one following the other in a gentle rhythm like the breath of a bellows.”

- Zhang Yimou, director of To Live

A script of such power demands actors of range and depth, which both Gong Li and Ge You are. Their total immersion into character is utterly convincing, bringing forth joy, laughter, understanding, humility and unbearable agony. There is also a real spark between Li and You, a sense of actual love - it’s impossible to understate the excellence of their performances. Huozhe is an extremely emotional picture but it’s the roles which bring tears, so devastating are the tribulations which weigh on them. For completion, the other players are fine, the sets and locations fitting and the sparse score appropriate. Huozhe indicates just what cinema is all about and why I love it so.

-Damian Cannon Copyright © Movie Reviews UK 1997

My thoughts: It’s been said life is a rollercoaster ride of ups and downs. Huozhe (To Live) mirrors this. During the quiet moments between the peaks and valleys it’s nice just to take a moment to contemplate. Near the end of the movie there is peace.