Posted By: Luke Tyson
Posted On: October 22, 2019
To Live is a film, banned in China, that examines the ramifications of the transitions in Chinese policy throughout the periods between the Communist requisition of land and the Great Cultural Revolution under Mao Zedong. It follows the story of the Xu family, the progeny of Fugui and Jiazhen, as they adapt to ongoing changes across the country, accounting policy-born tragedy at (nearly) every step of the way.
We first encounter the Xus at the peak of Fugui’s gambling problem, when he bets his property and everything he owns –– and loses –– to a man by the name of Long’er. The adjustment to peasant life does not come easy. Fugui joins a theater troupe and then enlists in the Chinese army. It is unclear whether he joins out of genuine loyalty or that idea that, to succeed, one must check the boxes of participation. As his troop is captured by the Communists, he changes sides and fights on behalf of the Communist for the final epoch of the war, a “decision” that will prove incredibly beneficial in eras to come. Things start to improve for Fugui: his wife and child come back to him when he is once again able to stand on his own two feet. Yet his family is in for another round of challenges at the turn of the Great Cultural Revolution.
First, adding to the irony of the story: Long’er is executed for being a land-owning anti-Communist, a fate that likely would have befallen Fugui had he been “luckier” in his wager. Luckily for his family, his participation in the Communist military gives the Xus a near blank-check in the unquestionability of their allegiance to the State. However, tragedy after tragedy befalls Fugui, his wife, and his children, evoking a sort of covert dissatisfaction that does not truly manifest until the very end of the film.
As To Live concludes, we meet a scene between Fugui (now a grandfather) and Mantou, the son of Fugui’s daughter who died in childbirth due to a Communist-enacted lack of trained medical personnel. Fugui tells a tale similar to the one he told his own son* at the beginning of the film, with a simple yet puissant twist. A tale of transformation that was once spun to corroborate the longevity of the Communist regime now insinuates a future in which China returns to capitalism.
*also now dead
To Live is not only heart-wrenching, but excellent in its ability to illustrate the connections between top-down policies and their ramifications in the lives of real people. It also shows how, in a society racked by a cult of personality that taboo-ified any deviation from complete piety to Mao Zedong, how failure after failure of the regime gave way to hidden, yet ever-present resistance, often in the smallest of ways. The historical context of the banning of the film only deepens the experience of its viewership and gets watchers thinking about the phenomenon of rampant censorship that continues in the region through modern-day.