To Live Film Analysis

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The theme of this movie is that living was hard during the time of the Great Leap Forward and especially during the Cultural Revolution. The title shows an accurate representation of the theme because all the characters of To Live, pushed through and struggled to live. They all lived in fear. Fear is the main theme in this story. Fear controlled the actions of the characters and made the plot of the movie. The fear of insecurity for the Xu Family, led to numerous outcomes and hardships the family had to experience. Fugui was told to live during the Civil War in order to go back to his family. Jiazhen struggled to live raising Fengxia and Youqing by herself, while Fugui was away. Chunsheng was told by Jiazhen to live although he was on the government’s …show more content…

Although some parts were missing, To Live portrayed the historical events in a factual way and conveyed the message of hardship really well. This movie was banned from China and the director was suspended from making films due to this film. As a viewer, the most important thing I will take away from this film is the idea that it was hard to survive during that historical period. One wrong move, can lead you to death. The fear of uncertainty is the strongest issue that emerges in this movie, along with the Cultural Revoltuion. While To Live shows the period of the Civil War, the Great Leap Forward, and the Cultural Revolution, the movie’s strongest parts are at the period of the Cultural Revolution. The beginning is lighter hearted, until the third part of the movie hits. The fear of uncertainty traumatizes me, because it was jeopardy to guess who would be the next target. Watching the movie, the living conditions seemed so unreal. To Live, by director Zhang Yi Mou, depicted three important events in the period of China’s communist revolution. It showed that everyone, rich or poor, was affected by the revolution and it was a revolution that would stick with the people

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