Watch To Live For Free

Please don't spend money on this.

This is one of the few movies I've ever seen where the whole audience broke into spontaneous, loud applause a third of the way in.

It's funny, it's tense, it features two great performances from two actors and the director expertly creates a web of odd tension where you actually don't know what is happening for the majority of the run time.

All of these films share one commonality, that being a kind of emotional center that humanizes a cast of monsters.

To live, the movie is based on an original novel by Yu Hua. In 1994, lifetime was directed by Zhang Yimou. According to Fu Gui's family rough fate as main line to narrate decades of up and sown of the suffering with Fu Gui and his family. These are showing one epitome of time in different the era of encounter. From the war of liberation and great leap forward to the Cultural Revolution, because they are lose too much and, their life have become numb. They are face probably only left "lifetimes" in their life. The movie is showing a compassion and sad black humor. It would condense the history and personal destiny. And the film showing that people cannot control own fate in history. This film review will focus on analysis the film's narrative approach and Fu Gui's character delineation.The film has clearly structure, and two main line interlaced. The first clue is the development of China's history. It is visible clue. The film would divided into four parts by the director, respectively in the forties, in fifties of great leap forward, in sixties of the Cultural Revolution and in the early eights. The film background is the modern history of China. Get through describe Fu Gui two generations of people's live, reflect to people's state of life in this historical background. According to this structure form of the line, the director would to depict characters into the history background. The director discards a lot of color of freehand brushwork type, and to emphasize feelings of original nature.The second clue is leather silhouette show. It is invisible clue. The leather silhouette show not only impact of emblem character and character rough fate, but also there are very important function in the transition of connection to the plot and scene. It is emphasize background and establish the emotional tone. Leather silhouette show is unique folk art, and has the very high artistic quality. The director is skillful use leather silhouette show in the film. For example, in the beginning of film, when Fu Gui gamble in casino, there is performances of a leather silhouette show. With a tense and fierce leather silhouette show, Fu Gui lost everything, and he was began the turning point of his fate. When he has nothing at all, Long Er gives leather silhouette for his. Fu Gui was began his career of a busk. The film's shot is ingenious transition from he picked up leather silhouette to scene of perform in the streets. Afterwards, he is captured by the communist party. The film's shot from under the bayonet leather silhouette transition to scene of perform leather silhouette show for the communist party. In the ending of film, the leather silhouette box is become chicken nest. The last scene is stand for new power and hope of living. It is the theme of the movie.Environment has a very important influence for character. To some extent, environment can change one person. Fu Gui from wealthy of gambling change to earthy farmers, and from earth farmers change to old man of kind to life. In different life experience and living environment, Fu Gu's character is also changing. He was born in the landlord family in the period of republic of China. Because he has a superiority of living condition, he formed the habit of gambling, and he has not sense of responsibility. However, when he loses everything and he witnessed the death of friend in the extremely cold environment, his survival desire is more and more intense. When he comes back, he is more cherishing reunion with his family. Fu Gui's patience and tolerance is Chinese farmers generally unique culture character. It comes from influences of China local culture and historical heritages. They are live in the misery and predicament, they cannot change life. However, Fu Gui is kind hearted. Chun Sheng accidentally killed his children, he has a passive forgave Chun Sheng. In the Cultural Revolution, he persuaded Chun Sheng to live, this is tolerant mentality, he not only forgave Chun Sheng in suffering, but also he can use with broad mind to accept the reality for his attack and shock and unfair.Living is not Fu Gui's patent, everyone is struggling in the fate. Jia Zhen, Lao Quan, mayor and Feng Xia, their fate is fate of China and fate of the most common Chinese people. Some people alive, and some people died, destiny often refuses to give happiness to kind and menial people.

...to describe how beautiful and nearly flawless this film is. This is like a feast for a person starving for good cinema, good storytelling, and flawless acting. Like THE JOY LUCK CLUB, it is an epic, an emotional banquet.Fugui (You Ge) and his wife Jiazhen (the incomparable Gong Li) are young parents expecting their second child within a few months. They are financially well off and living comfortably, but Fugui has a terrible addiction to all night gambling. Soon enough, he has lost everything the family owns, and they are paupers overnight.Jiazhen takes their daughter Fengxia and leaves Fugui devastated. He also loses his father to a heart attack and his mother is ailing. He is forced to take lodging in a crummy apartment and just try to get his life back together, becoming a street peddler, then a performer of shadow puppetry. Jiazhen decides to give Fugui one more chance, and seeing as he has nothing left to gamble away, things begin to look up.Until one night, during one of Fugui's puppet shows, he and his troupe are caught up in the civil war against the Liberation Army (pre- communism). A prisoner of war for months, he becomes an entertainer for the Army, and then set free to go home. With a new government in power, Fugui and Jiazhen begin yet another attempt to rebuild. This movie is neither pro nor anti communism. It is simply the portrait of a family caught up in times of tremendous change. A decade later, the family has merged into the mission of Chairman Mao, helping with steel production and eating in communist canteens instead of cooking their own meals. All scrap metal is donated to the cause, and even the children are expected to work long, hard hours smelting, lest their families be thought of as "politically backward." They live their lives in happy anxiety, glad to be alive and together, but always wary of offending someone who could punish them. Fengxia has been left mute by a fever some years prior, and her younger brother Youquin meets with a heart-wrenching tragedy at this time.Two decades after the film begins, China has taken the Great Leap. Fengxia is growing up, and her family introduces her to kindhearted Erxi. They marry and soon are expecting, but more tragedy is in store. The ending of this film is open to discussion, but basically the point is, life is not a destination, it's a journey. Who knows what becomes of this family after the credits? What are their hopes of the future? They were once a rich family, and it's unlikely they'll ever be rich again. Do they even care at this point? After the tragic losses of their children, how do they have the strength "to live" on? Perhaps because Erxi, who has stayed near them in spite of his own tremendous loss, and because of their grandson, who lived after Fengxia died in childbirth. Perhaps that precious child, that "Little Bun" is all it takes to motivate them to keep going. In the face of loss and tragedy, a new blessing makes all the difference. People need something to hope for and dream for, otherwise it would all seem so pointless.For all its richness and tapestry, To Live carries a simple and universal message about the strength of the human spirit and the will "to live."

"This piece of art is an epic family drama." If i read reviews like this, i usually think of over-the-top artsy movies with weird acting, unrealistic dialogs and long shots at clocks or stones that no person in his right mind, who is not a complete movie buff would voluntarily sit through. To all you "normal" people, who are afraid of just this: This is not one of those movies. It's no popcorn cinema, but it's still highly entertaining in its own way. The story is gripping, the acting is nothing short of marvelous (Ge You and Gong Li deserve every prize there is for their performances) and the dialogs are simply ...real. It makes you laugh out loud and it makes you cry (there'll be more crying than laughing going on, though) To me, it's a perfect movie, that might just change your perspective on life. However, you will be able to enjoy this masterpiece more thoroughly, if you get yourself acquainted with Chinese history from the 1930s to the 1970s, and while you're at it try to dive into Chinese culture itself real quick as well ^_^ Trust me, you will be able to enjoy this movie much more, if you know more than "well, the commies took over in '49 and then there was this cultural revolution, i guess". If you don't have all that background information, you'll probably still think of it as a great movie, but you're going to miss some of the subtle social commentary and will not recognize the importance of some of the plot devices. So you might want to check out wikipedia or a history book beforehand; or maybe even the novel itself, if you can get your hands on it. The novel is very good, too. But it does lack the optimistic fundamental note and the humor of the movie.

This was the first film I saw by Yimou Zhang, many years ago when still in the cinemas. Thinking back, it's the movie of all I seen that given me the most lasting impression. Yimou Zhang got a way to make movies that really creeps under your skin in a piercing manner, not just in single scenes, but deeper and deeper per minute unfolded. When you watch his films, you start out with finding the first 10 minutes boring. But the the skin piercing begins, and goes constantly deeper till you can take no more.This movie features hilarious scenes, and a black kind of humour, that takes some of the sting away. But me and many the other in the audience could not bear any more of the tragedy in the end. 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. You get to know this family, love them, pity and feel with them, and admire them for them for their strenght in no hyped up manner.One of the few movies I have witnessed people raising from the seats and clapping in their hands after the movie was over.