Zhang Yimou To Live

To better understand the movie, To Live, one must have a background of the respected director, Zhang Yimou – better known as “ China’s ‘Fifth Generation’ filmmaker.” He was born in 1951 in the city of Xi’an and Shaanixe Providence. During this period, China was undergoing a Cultural Revolution: The new communist government suppressed the KMT Nationalists during the civil war in the 1940’s and China was shifting toward communist government. Zhang’s father, an advocate …

…But the family overcomes every trauma and circumstances because it is all part of a life. Due to all the inevitable tragedies, Fugui and Jiazhen may have to live a simplistic life but in actuality, their lives were full of contentment. For example, the most basic daily ritual brought a family to gather together and brought joy to them: there were many scenes where happiness of the family was solely brought by having food together.