Modern day Hollywood has lost a lot of its luster because the plot is so predictable. So often, the protagonist, antagonist and desired outcome are clearly laid out in the first thirty minutes if not already in the ads seen on TV. The ambiguity of the movie is a breath of fresh air. I can't decide who to like and who to hate. Hollywood has brainwashed me so much that I am striving to like Yugui, when whats to like? Yu Hua/Zhang Yimou keep confusing me and almost teasing me with flashes of Yugui's morality, but then his superficiality and materialism is revealed. Yugui has yet to show any depth of feeling with regards to compassion or unselfishness. I'm curious to see if he turns out to be the hero, but for the breath of fresh air's sake, I hope he doesn't.
Morning Sun helped explain a lot of the confusion of To Live with regards to politics. I've never read or been taught much about the rise of communism in China-my only knowledge is of European communism. I thought it was interesting that the Chinese communist anthem sounded very similar to the Soviet Union's. I thought the anthem's tone brought to life several characteristics of communism, i.e. rigid, militaristic, unifying.
Translation Question: What did they mean by the term landlord? Long'er is given this title but I was confused as to what his responsibilities would be.
Posted by owingsj at October 19, 2004 09:34 PMPart of the answer to the ??landlord?? question is in Cagatucci's notes for the film:
Historical Background: Long’er’s execution was probably part of the Chinese Communist Party's [CCP] early purge of the landlord class, which reached its height in 1950-51. The peasant and working class was revered in Mao Zedung’s new China; land, wealth, and food were redistributed more equitably; and people of humble origins like Chunsheng, who would become the new “district chief,” rose to places of prominence.
(http://web.cocc.edu/cagatucci/classes/hum210/coursepack/ToLive2.htm )
Another way to locate the 'landlord' class might be in Skinner's Onion: they were the minor gentry, many of whom lived by renting land to poorer peasants. A matter of redistributing land. Take a look at Luo Ning's flashback to see the typology "Black Five"/"Red Five".
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