The novel has made a lot of effort to foreshadow and render the sense of heaviness. The most typical example is the description of the field work of Fugui and his old cow "Fugui" at the beginning of the story. And every time the movie emphasizes that "alive" is directly linked to death, such as surviving the war and saying "it's good to live"; another example is when an old friend visited Fugui at night and expressed that he didn't want to live anymore, Fugui's wife came out and said: "You remember that you still owe my family a life, you have to live well!" These indeed reflect the preciousness of living, but living is not just a requirement of "living".
In "Furong Town", before leaving, Qin Shutian said to Hu Yuyin, "You have to live well, like an animal!" Such a seemingly stubborn "life" is actually endowed with a higher state of life , a meaning of life itself. In the novel "Alive", Yu Hua emphasized the meaning of life itself.
This kind of meaning of life is connected with the old cow and the land that depend on each other, which makes it even more precious and touching. The movie changed Fugui's living environment into a town, which I think is a huge mistake. The most primitive and authentic living state, the simplest and most simple life should be directly linked to the land. The connection between farmers and the land and family is the most sincere and solid way to interpret the meaning of "living" itself.
From the perspective of the overall layout, if Yu Hua's Fugui lives on Lao Niu, then Zhang Yimou's Fugui lives on shadow puppets, but shadow puppets are not handled properly.
Shadow puppets are a typical oriental symbol. This symbol is also shown in Wang Quanan's "White Deer Plain". When Tian Xiaoe and Xiao Wenzhi were intoxicated, the appearance of shadow puppets was exactly the same as that in "Alive". Perhaps this is a kind of shadow puppet that is also directed by Shaanxi. Consciousness of cultural identity, but some excessive shadow puppet renderings in "Alive" are counterproductive, and instead flow into the disadvantages of Orientalism.
Shadow puppets have become a victim of cultural urgency, and the result is a lack of superficiality and depth.
At the beginning of the story, there are a lot of shadow puppets in the casino on the sound and picture, and the shadow puppets soon become the livelihood of Fugui. As the story progresses, the shadow puppet rescued Fugui during the war, and Fugui also saved the shadow puppet after liberation. The two have become interdependent. Family, shadow puppets, and Fugui have become a stable triangular relationship. But in the end, the relationship was diluted to the point of nothing. On the surface, this weakening is caused by external conditions, because shadow puppets were burned during the Cultural Revolution, but when you think about it carefully, it is actually a lack of handling.
If Fugui lives on shadow puppets, then he should reach a tacit understanding with Fugui like the old cow in the novel, and even communicate with him. There is not only one pair of shadow puppets, it can be remade after burning, and the singing of shadow puppets is indestructible. If the power of "living" is touching and powerful enough, shadow puppets should be more meaningful and focus on talent in Fugui's later years. right. So in general, the biggest flaw of the movie is its grasp of the theme of "living", and as a result, the movie presents a simple account of life and death.
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