To Live And Zhang Yimou: Film Analysis

Yu Hua’s To Live and Zhang Yimou’s film interpretation both tell a similar story. They both follow the life of Fugui, a man who is at first a rambunctious gambler, and they illustrate his transformation into a man who loves his family and will do whatever it takes to give them a good life. They are both banned in China for their critical views on communism and the Chinese government. However, the book is quite a bit more detailed than the movie, and at times, the the settings are different. As a whole, the book also does a more thorough job of describing how exactly Fugui and his family survived the tough times presented by communist ideals and policies, and as a result of this, Yu Hua’s To Live is more counter-revolutionary than Zhang Yimou’s …show more content…
Mao, the leader of the PRC, decided that in order to increase production and progress towards communism, the people of China should join communes. As a result of this decision, peasant’s resources were pooled together, private plots of land were abolished, and communal dining halls were established. Dining halls were also established in the cities. While this was very productive for a short while, eventually propaganda that exaggerated the increase in production caused food consumption to surpass the rate of food production. On top of this, China was plagued with two years of unsuccessful harvests, and soon people began to starve. Rather than a “great leap forward”, at the end of this period, China had actually taken a “great leap backwards”. While this is an event that takes place alongside a large portion of both stories, the great leap forward is better represented in the book, as Fugui and his family live in a commune in the countryside. In the movie, Fugui and his family live in an urban …show more content…
Due to the smelters being such crudely-made devices, they require constant supervision. On top of this, no one was properly educated on how to smelt iron, and as a result of this production was extremely slow, despite all of the items confiscated with the intention of being smelt. Yu Hua writes: “We kept working late into the night, beyond when everyone in the village had gone to sleep. After adding water three times, I grabed a branch and stuck it into the cauldron. The iron was still as hard as a rock. Jiazhen was so exhausted that her face was covered in sweat” (Yu 113). As a result of the backyard steel campaign, the people did not have enough rest, and the production of food was hindered by exhausted workers. With everyone encouraged to help create steel, not everyone had the proper skills, and a lot of the confiscated items were not fit for smelting. After all of the commune’s food ran out, the people were forced to cook on their own, which was nearly impossible without pots or