I thought “To Live” did an excellent job of showing the terror wrought by the communist movement to every day people. It made it clear that anyone could be a scapegoat, that a person could be deemed an enemy of the party even by the way in which their children behave. The one thing I could not completely figure out was whether Fengui stood in favor of the communist party. While his actions and the title of the movie suggest, Fengui acts out of self-preservation and for the preservation of his family, however the story about the chick and communism implies at least to me that Fengui actually believes in it. I suppose when we watch the next part of the movie, this will be answered, or we will see how they have altered.
What struck me most about the documentary was the way support of the political party was transformed into a sort of religious fervor. Mao Zedong was clearly an iconic figure and the way the interviewees spoke of the importance of his book and his teachings. Jesus could be deemed as a revolutionary figure and the supporters of Mao seemed to view him in the same light. Mao and the coup of the liberation army took on mythic proportions as they recounted the tale in the East is Red performance. Their description of the chaos in the time before Mao and the “utopia” after wards struck me as being similar to a creation myth. The communist propaganda nearly deified Mao, adding a sort of religious right to the whole movement, though based around the political movement.
I suppose my main question concerning communism in China at this time is how they dealt with religion. I assume that they did not advocate religious worship, but I would like to know how they sanctioned the practice of different religions, or if they did at all. Maybe because they wanted to promote Maoism.