live quietly and miserably

Jordy 2022-08-21 14:00:26

Transferred from -- Baidu knows that 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 lost his son in the "Cultural Revolution". During the Great Revolution", his daughter died. Every death seems to be an accident, but it is inevitable in line with the development of history. The era of turbulence and inhibition is the ruthless plunder of the people living at the bottom, making them and their families impoverished, from form to inner realization. As a bystander, watching him step on the ice floes with a mirage-like hope all the time. After the uncontrollable appearance burst, relying on the long patience of their own instincts, they continued to survive in a state of suffocation. Life is like a piece of sea, taking all the tragic incidents. Freud has an explanation for the causes of masochism: if a person falls into an inescapable pain, to the point of being unbearable, he will regard this pain as happiness, and in this way to seek relief - and in doing so, his values ​​have been reversed. This is the protagonist of this film, and also the ordinary Chinese people from the 1950s and 1960s to today, a real, paralyzed life state. By this definition, each of us becomes a masochist. Therefore, the audience is not only a bystander, but also a member of the story. Everyone's self is not only a scroll unrolled by history, but also a product of being squeezed by history. Reality offers no choice for how to live, and every step forward becomes a necessity. Some people say that this is Zhang Yimou's most successful film. The film's plain and simple narrative is consistent with the plot, and the scene is always gray, just like that absurd era and ignorant society. Fugui, played by Ge You, maintains a chaotic expression and movement, vividly narrating the natural and sad patience of the little people of that era. After being forced to face various losses, he continues to calm down. Going on, it seems that you have experienced all kinds of true meanings of life, but in the end, you may return to nothing, come to this world naked, and leave naked. In terms of plot, Zhang Yimou has done a lot of processing on the basis of the original work, which is quite successful. Some new plots are inserted, for example, there is no role of Professor Wang in the process of Fengxia's death. But introducing the role of Professor Wang makes it more straightforward Uncover the secret behind Fengxia's death. After experiencing the visual and psychological impact, the audience saw the ruthless destruction of intellectuals in that era. Another major change is the change in Fugui's way of making a living. From the novel, Fugui borrowed two acres of land from Long Er to live, and became a wandering artist who borrowed a shadow play from Long Er. The shadow play runs through the whole film from beginning to end, just moving the rural background of the novel to the city, opening up the perspective, which is conducive to the expression of the film language, and achieves a more common and universal effect. From my understanding, the image of "shadow play" can also have a meaning that life is like a play, and the joys and sorrows are empty. The movie changes Youqing's cause of death from the original death due to excessive blood transfusion for the county magistrate's wife to being dragged to work at school due to fatigue and being hit by Chunsheng to death. Uncover the bloody scene of the Shroud of Youqing, fully visualizing the tragic nature of the characters. Although not as politically sharp as the plot of the original book, the school forced students to put aside their studies and devote themselves to national steelmaking, projecting on another level the absurdity of the top-down thinking mode and rough behavior in the context of the Great Leap Forward. The pseudo-scientific line of socialism and the wanton rampage of idealism, utilitarianism and imperativeism. When a staff member came to Fugui's home, Youqing, opened the box where Fugui's shadow puppets were placed, and pointed out that the nails on the box and the iron wire on the shadow puppets were also metal, and there was some kind of secret connection. In contrast, the plot after the change avoids absoluteization and is more meaningful. There are also major changes at the end. The end of the original work is this: Fengxia died in childbirth, her husband was crushed to death by a slate while working, and Erxi's son was raised by Fugui, and later died after eating beans. Fugui's family all left him, only an old cow accompanied him, he said: "Human, just want to live." This is a typical black humor, tragic and perverted, in the depths of suffering, but do not know how to suffer . Only by indulging in pain can all wounds heal without medicine. However, the ending of the movie is much gentler. After Fengxia's death, she... expand all>

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To Live quotes

  • 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.