To Live

To Live

  • Director: Yimou Zhang
  • Writer: Wei Lu,Hua Yu
  • Countries of origin: China, Hong Kong
  • Language: Mandarin
  • Release date: December 16, 1994
  • Sound mix: Dolby Stereo
  • Aspect ratio: 1.85 : 1
  • Also known as: Phải Sống
  • "Lifetimes Living" is a feature film produced by Time International Co., Ltd. in 1994. The film is adapted from Yu Hua 's novel of the same name, directed by Zhang Yimou and starring Ge You and Gong Li  .
    The film is set against the background of the Chinese Civil War and the political movements after the founding of New China, and reflects the fate of a generation of Chinese through the ups and downs of the protagonist Fugui's life.
    In 1994, the film won the Jury Award, Best Actor Award and other awards at the 47th Cannes International Film Festival  .

    Details

    • Release date December 16, 1994
    • Filming locations China
    • Production companies ERA International, Shanghai Film Studios

    Box office

    Gross US & Canada

    $2,332,728

    Opening weekend US & Canada

    $32,900

    Gross worldwide

    $2,332,728

    Movie reviews

     ( 87 ) Add reviews

    • By Ettie 2022-12-31 01:39:23

      Dignity of living but not living

      Perhaps it is the best comment to express the real living conditions of the Chinese people for so many years. The sadness/sourness/humiliation/helplessness/absurdity of life is more profound by using black comedy. Some scenes are unforgettable-----Fugui received Long Er's shadow puppet, and finally began to perform in all corners of the world to survive. Under the dim light, the thin and frail Fugui opened his throat and sang with his blue veins exposed. When the camera turned, a group of...

    • By Breanna 2022-12-28 19:36:56

      It's been a long time since I marked it, finally I watched it

      Jiazhen said, "Youqing, my mother is sorry for you, but I didn't let you sleep well when you were born." Jiazhen said, "Our Fengxia has suffered from a hard life since she was a child, and we haven't had a good day. If you don't make trouble, Let some people lively and lively on the wedding day." The fate of the characters unfortunately reflects the sadness of the era. When chickens grow up, they will become geese, goose will become sheep when they grow up, sheep will become cows...

    • By Vita 2022-12-27 17:55:22

      No matter how the times change, people always have to live

      I remember when I was in high school, the history teacher taught us earnestly, "You are the luckiest generation now. If you don't believe me, go to China's history, how can there be such a relatively long and stable period of peace for you to study with peace of mind." I don't know the history, but the meaning of the words seems to make people take it for granted.

      A while ago, my grandfather told me about his childhood. He said that he was hungry and hungry every day. I remembered...

    • By Marques 2022-12-27 06:13:59

      A comparative analysis of characters in the movie version of "Alive" and the novel version

      The fate of the characters is related to the character and the times.

      Chunsheng:

      The prop of the character Chunsheng in the movie version, the car, is used very well.

      At the beginning, Chunsheng said that he likes to drive, and later he stayed in the PLA to drive. To meet Fugui again, it was Chunsheng who died of Youqing because of an...

    • By Ivah 2022-12-26 05:33:58

      Man lives for the sake of living itself, not for anything other than living

      The movie "Alive" is hailed as a living Chinese contemporary unofficial history, and it truly lives up to its name. This is a quiet film, without much crying, grief, and exhaustion, as if it was just a commentary of the protagonist Fugui along the way. The title of the film is "Alive", but throughout the film are the deaths one after another. The protagonist Fugui lost his father in the Republic of China, his mother died in the civil war, his son was lost in the "Great Leap Forward", and he...

    User comments

      ( 62 ) Add comments

    • By Monique 2023-09-24 11:16:58

      A very heart-wrenching movie, Jiazhen in the play never complained about wealth and honor when she encountered anything, and silently accompanied her, which caused us to...

    • By Guadalupe 2023-09-17 15:43:06

      Some people have survived, and some have died. Fate often refuses to give happiness to kind and humble people. Instead, it made those people miserable to the end. ....

    • By Lexie 2023-09-16 11:53:53

      The film that lost to Pulp...

    • By Brett 2023-09-12 09:18:50

      Laomouzi used to make good movies, but now it's getting more and more...

    • By Beulah 2023-08-23 17:27:35

      Laomouzi compromised so much that he almost didn't turn it into a comedy, and he was banned from the...

    Movie plot

    Fu Gui ( played by Ge You ) is a gambling dude who has lost all his family and his father is also angry. The pregnant wife Jiazhen ( played by Gong Li ) and her daughter Fengxia ran away from home. , A year later, he returned with his newborn son Youqing. From then on, Fugui changed his mind and started playing a shadow puppet show with Chunsheng from the same village, but he was drawn into a young man by the Kuomintang army, and later...
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    Creative background

    The movie "Lifetimes Living" is adapted from Yu Hua's novel of the same name. Zhang Yimou chose Yu Hua's novel to shoot because this subject fits his desire to "challenge the self in the past". Zhang Yimou first fancyed Yu Hua's other novel " The Mistakes by the River ". Because he wanted to understand him comprehensively, Zhang Yimou asked to see all of his works. Yu Hua gave Zhang Yimou a copy of "Lifetimes Living". After reading...
    more about To Live Creative background

    Evaluation action

    "Lifetimes Living" is a Chinese-style black humor film, and it is also a long film that spans a long period of time. It is praised by some audiences and film critics as one of Zhang Yimou's best works. Through a person's life experience, the film covers the pain of life beyond the control of one's destiny in history, and derives a wry smile at death. In Fugui’s life, from the initial drunkenness to the fear of five guns, to the grief...
    more about To Live Evaluation action

    Movie quotes

    • Little Bun: [playing with chickens] When will they grow up?

      Xu Jiazhen: Very soon.

      Little Bun: And then?

      Xu Fugui: And then... the chickens will turn into geese... and the geese will turn into sheep... and the sheep will turn into oxen.

      Little Bun: And after the oxen?

      Xu Fugui: After oxen...

      Xu Jiazhen: After oxen, Little Bun will grow up.

      Little Bun: I want to ride on an ox's back.

      Xu Jiazhen: You will ride on an ox's back.

      Xu Fugui: Little Bun won't ride on an ox... he'll ride trains and planes... and life will get better and better.

    • Xu Fugui: What did you name our son?

      Xu Jiazhen: "Don't Gamble".

    • Xu Fugui: If Youqing does as daddy says, our lives will get better and better. Our family is like a little chicken. When it grows up, it becomes a goose and that will turn into a sheep. The sheep will turn into an ox.

      Xu Youqing: And after the ox?

      Xu Fugui: After the ox is Communism, and there will be dumplings and meat every day.