To Live

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To Live

1994,

2h 5m,

Drama

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Watchlist

Watchlist

86%

21 Reviews

Tomatometer

96%

5,000+ Ratings

Popcornmeter

86%

Tomatometer

21 Reviews

96%

Popcornmeter

5,000+ Ratings

Fugui's (Ge You) gambling leads him to lose everything, including his wife, Jiazhen (Gong Li) and his home. Over the following decades, he struggles to live as a peasant. He tries joining a theater troupe, and then he enlists in the Chinese army in hopes of being a good citizen. Yet, just as things get better — and Jiazhen and their baby daughter return to him — the Cultural Revolution begins and tragedy continues to strike his family. Despite numerous hardships, Fugui never gives up hope.

Critics Consensus

To Live (Huo zhe) offers a gut-wrenching overview of Chinese political upheaval through the lens of one family's unforgettable experiences.

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Jonathan Rosenbaum

Chicago Reader

Apr 11, 2019

His film grows progressively in meaning and resonance as it develops. Highly recommended.

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Robert Horton

Film Comment Magazine

Apr 10, 2018

It's a film of handsome backdrops and often complexly comic scenes, but also of stultifying pointlessness.

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Derek Elley

Variety

Mar 26, 2009

A well-crafted but in no way earth-shaking entry in the helmer's oeuvre.

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Brian Eggert

Deep Focus Review

Feb 20, 2022

4/4

There seems to be a commentary and critique hidden in To Live's intertextuality and symbolism, which add to the film's pleasures in the grand epic style.

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Dennis Schwartz

Dennis Schwartz Movie Reviews

Feb 15, 2008

C+

It rushes through history as if it were firemen rushing to a fire.

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Harry L

Jan 2, 2018

To Live is a sprawling family epic spanning decades, but never feeling reductive. It depicts a striking and human view of the horrors of socialism and the frightening reality of left-wing mob rule, where anything you say can be misconstrued and you can be put up against a wall for any imagined reason. Beautiful and charming movie overall, despite the tragic events the family suffers.

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Anakin S

Feb 11, 2017

Epic history of 20th century China. If you don't know much about recent Chinese history, this is a good place to get an overview. This film actually had tears welling up for me, something that rarely happens!

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Yimou Zhang

Director

You Ge

Xu Fugui

Gong Li

Xu Jiazhen

Niu Ben

Town Chief

Tao Guo

Chunsheng

Wu Jiang

Wan Erxi

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Synopsis

Fugui's (Ge You) gambling leads him to lose everything, including his wife, Jiazhen (Gong Li) and his home. Over the following decades, he struggles to live as a peasant. He tries joining a theater troupe, and then he enlists in the Chinese army in hopes of being a good citizen. Yet, just as things get better — and Jiazhen and their baby daughter return to him — the Cultural Revolution begins and tragedy continues to strike his family. Despite numerous hardships, Fugui never gives up hope.

Director: Yimou Zhang
Producer: Fu-Sheng Chiu, Funhong Kow, Christophe Tseng
Screenwriter: Wei Lu, Hua Yu
Distributor: Samuel Goldwyn Company
Production Co: ERA International
Genre: Drama
Original Language: Chinese
Release Date (Theaters): May 18, 1994, Original
Release Date (DVD): Jul 1, 2003
Box Office (Gross USA): $2.2M
Runtime: 2h 5m
Sound Mix: Dolby, Surround, Stereo

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