I found the contrast between the two parts of the films interesting. The biggest difference, for me, was the portrayal of the initial outcome of communism in the films. The death of Youqing, and the appearance of Chunsheng as the County Magistrate in “To Live” seemed to reflect unhappiness with the new communist rule. When Fugui and Jaizhen discover their son was killed by a communist leader, and he was where he was killed because of communist orders to have children smelting steel, they film creates a sense of rejection of communism. It seems as though goals may be optimistic but they are unachievable and create tragedy. In the “Morning Sun” Documentary I was surprised by the contrast to this notion. After the revolution in the beginnings of communist rule everyone was excited about the future of communism and greatly differ from the theme of “To Live” in it’s portrayal of family tragedy at this point. I am interested in looking at the second half of “To Live” to see how Fugui and his family react to this tragedy and how the film interprets the later eras we saw in the “Morning Sun” documentary.
Posted by julianne at October 19, 2004 05:48 PM