The props have the function of revealing the theme, setting the atmosphere and shaping the characters of the film. The two props in the film "Alive" have unique characteristics: one is the shadow play: an authentic and excellent folk treasure with strong Chinese national characteristics. In the desolate singing of Qin Opera, it is colorful and vivid. It not only expresses Chinese culture, but also expresses the film's sigh of life. Shadow play makes the story of "Alive" evolve into three layers, the story of Fugui's family, the story of shadow play, and the story of human history and culture. On the one hand, man is the manipulator of the doll; on the other hand, man is manipulated like a doll by an unknowable and powerful force. Chinese folk art shadow play not only bears the visual symbol of the film but also is an integral part of the film "Alive". It not only increases the audience's visual enjoyment, but also pushes the theme of the film to a higher level. The tragic fate of Fugui's family in the movie has a strong fatalism color, and the implication that people are teased like dolls has made an indispensable footnote. Shadow puppetry is first and foremost a play, and it is more appropriate to use a play to set off Fugui's life. Floating life is like a dream, and it is also true and illusory. Life is like a pre-arranged play. This expresses the director's own destiny. Shadow play not only brings a completely different appreciation to the audience, but also brings more drama to the film, and also gives the film "Alive" a new connotation. Throughout the film, Zhang Yimou constantly plays with the imagery of "people are like dolls". Fugui was rewritten as a shadow puppet artist, not only for the needs of the plot, but also as a means for Zhang Yimou to strengthen the theme. In order to make a living, Fugui abandoned his wife and children, away from his hometown, and became the head of a traveling shadow puppet theater. The scenes of Fugui's rush to survive and the shadow puppet show crossed the screen, making us a little confused between the characters in the shadow puppet and the characters in the movie. The puppets in shadow puppets are manipulated by people and Fugui is manipulated by fate in the movie, which pushes fatalism to the extreme in the plot of the movie.
The second is an ordinary wooden box in which shadow puppets are placed, which is used to refer to the implicit intention of the family concept. Someone gave him this wooden box with shadow puppets, and Fugui decided to take on the responsibility of supporting his family. When Fugui was kidnapped by the Kuomintang army, he refused to throw away the wooden box during this period; he even encountered the Communist Party. The army attacked, and when he fled in terror, he still turned around and picked up the wooden box and ran with it. These all show Fugui's determination not to give up on the family. It is not difficult to see the intention of the wooden box associated with the concept of home. At the end of the film, Fugui took out the wooden box from under the bed and put the chickens fed with steamed buns into the wooden box. People's eyes focused on the wooden box with the camera. At this time, Fugui, Jiazhen and Mantou surrounded the wooden box and sent the final message. Fugui said to his grandson Mantou: "When Mantou grows up, he will stop riding a cow, he will just take the train and take the plane. It's getting better and better!" The ending of the film asserts the importance of family, and the wooden box has always been in a prominent position in the foreground, and the wooden box has thus become a key symbolic element in the interpretation of the film's theme. The wooden box has been fully utilized in the film, and it also appears in the audience's sight from time to time with the scene of "Alive".
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