Film Review - To Live

Students will research and develop an understanding of the human experience in a culture that is in some ways the mirror opposite of their own. In a time in which capitalism in China bodes the same reaction socialists did in America, students will investigate the role of the government and how much control it should have on the lives of its citizens. Exploring a culture through the arts makes accessible qualities that cannot be quantified in the black and white texts of historical fact telling. The Film To Live was window into a world that is the mirror opposite of Western Culture at the time. It helps to not just understand the what but the why, the subjective and the visceral. This film is a great way for students to travel through the milestones that we will discuss in class such as The Great Leap Forward and The Cultural Revolution or even to look at ways being labeled a “capitalist” impacted citizens much in the same way being labeled a “communist” destroyed lives here in the U.S. The film really makes the hardships of The Cultural Revolution accessible to students who would otherwise not have a point of reference. Students will compare and contrast Zhang Yimou’s work in To Live to that in House of the Flying Daggers. These films are so visually different I think that its not only a testament to how he’s evolving as a filmmaker, but also how he is being shaped as a storyteller evolving as an artist within the confines of Chinese Censorship. We will also discuss media representations with discussion about the lead character Fugui (Ge You) who is not featured on the movie poster, but is replaced by his wife Jiazhen (Gong Li) who was also banned from making films as a result of her role in this film.
edited by rcharles on 1/22/2017