To Live (1994 film)
| To Live | |
|---|---|
To Live DVD cover
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| Traditional | 活著 |
| Simplified | 活着 |
| Mandarin | Huózhe |
| Literally | alive / to be alive |
| Directed by | Zhang Yimou |
| Produced by |
Fu-Sheng Chiu Funhong Kow Christophe Tseng |
| Written by | Lu Wei |
| Based on |
To Live by Yu Hua |
| Starring | |
| Music by | Zhao Jiping |
| Cinematography | Lü Yue |
| Edited by | Du Yuan |
| Distributed by | The Samuel Goldwyn Company |
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Release date
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Running time
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132 minutes |
| Country | China |
| Language | Mandarin |
To Live, also titled Lifetimes in some English versions, is a Chinese film directed by Zhang Yimou in 1994, starring Ge You, Gong Li, and produced by the Shanghai Film Studio and ERA International. It is based on the novel of the same name by Yu Hua. Having achieved international success with his previous films (Ju Dou and Raise the Red Lantern), director Zhang Yimou's To Live came with high expectations. It is the first Chinese film that had its foreign distribution rights pre-sold.
The film was banned in mainland China by the Chinese State Administration of Radio, Film, and Television due to its critical portrayal of various policies and campaigns of the Communist government.
To Live was screened at the 1994 New York Film Festival before eventually receiving a limited release in the United States on November 18, 1994.
Zhang Yimou originally intended to adapt Mistake at River's Edge, a thriller written by Yu Hua. Yu gave Zhang a set of all of the works that had been published at that point so Zhang could understand his works. Zhang said that he began reading To Live, one of the works, and was unable to stop reading it. Zhang met Yu to discuss the script for Mistake at River's Edge, but they kept bringing up To Live. The two decided to have To Live adapted instead.
In the 1940s, Xu Fugui (Ge You) is a rich man's son and compulsive gambler, who loses his family property to a man named Long'er. His behaviour also causes his long-suffering wife Jiazhen (Gong Li) to leave him, along with their daughter, Fengxia and their unborn son, Youqing.
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