Zhang Yimou's To Live

Novels and books are undoubtedly different forms of media. In a novel, a writer takes time to develop characters, weaves specific details in the text, and leads the reader along with tidbits of information. Film, on the other hand, must move on its own, breath, cry, inhale, and die. The written story takes time to develop; however, movies often start “in medias re.” Yu Hua’s compelling novel “To Live” was adapted to film by Zhang Yimou in 1994. Roger Ebert states in his review of Zhang Yimou’s film, To Live, that “ “To Live” is a simple title, but it conceals a universe” (Ebert 1994). While the film follows the protagonist Fugui through four decades of his life, the film alters the storyline significantly, and adds symbolism not appearing in the book. For example, Fugui travels with a group of puppeteers before being captured and force into service. The puppets symbolize the changes faced by the characters. Fugui keeps the puppets, but eventually he is forced to burn them, symbolizing change and the stark, new way of life for his family. Also, in the novel, the family farms and raises sheep, but the film ignores this aspect of the story. I thought the relationship between the son, Youqing and his sheep was a fairly significant part of the story. Yimou also changes the death of Youqing from the novel where the hospital bleeds him to death into a tragic accident.
In the interview with Yu Hua, Hua mentions that he is pleased with the film (Standaert 2004). Personally, I thought the film was entirely too political and Yimou changed the story in order to achieve a somewhat happy ending. At the end of the book, Fugui has only his oxen for company; however, in the film, Fugui has his wife and grandson still alive.

Ebert, Roger. To Live. 1994. Web.
http://rogerebert.suntimes.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/19941223/REVIEWS/412230303/1023

Standaert, Michael. Interview with Yu Hua. MCLC Resource Center. 2004. Web.
http://mclc.osu.edu/rc/pubs/yuhua.htm

Yimou, Zhang. To Live. 1994. Century Communications Ltd. Film.

Yu Hua's To Live

Born in 1960 in Zhejiang, China, Yu Hua trained initially to be a dentist. After five years in dentistry, he tells Michael Standaert, a graduate student at the University of Iowa that “I didn’t like the job because I was looking into people’s mouths the whole day. The mouth offers the worst scenic view in the world. I was still young and I wanted to see other more interesting things” (Standaert 2004). Hua emphasized, in addition, that he saw writers walking around the cultural center observing life and people. The pay was the same regardless and writers could set their own hours, so Hua decided that was the life for him.

Hua’s novel, To Live, follows the protagonist Fugui over the course of four decades, through the Great Leap Forward and the Cultural Revolution, and through the upheavals, grief, and joy of family life. Fugui symbolizes not only tradition, but also shift to modernity which takes place over the course of the novel. Fugui initially gambles away his family’s fortune and they lose their home. Fugui is taken into service and cannot return for several years, reuniting with his estranged wife at that point. The couple has a daughter, deaf and mute, and a son.

I enjoyed the novel a great deal. Despite all their struggles, both politically and personally, Fugui manages to keep a positive attitude toward life. Grief befalls our protagonist in the novel as he loses his entire family by the end and is left to wander with only an oxen as companion. He compares himself to the oxen.

At the end of the novel, I discovered that Hua was actually inspired to write this story from an American slave song. The experiences Hua discusses and refers to are undoubtedly uniquely Chinese, however, the universal experience of human life are remarkably similar. Hua states that “human experience, combined with the power of imagination, can break down all barriers, enabling a person truly to understand that thing called fate at work in his life” (250).

In the interview, Hua discusses some of his writing technique. Hua emphasizes to Standaert that if he listens to his character’s voices, he can feel what they feel and the characters he creates tell him what to write. Most writers employ this universal technique. So it comes as no surprise to me to hear Hua talk about his style in this manner. The voices in his head are, in fact, real.

Standaert, Michael. Interview with Yu Hua. MCLC Resource Center. 2004. Web.
http://mclc.osu.edu/rc/pubs/yuhua.htm

Hua, Yu.
To Live. New York: Random House: 250 (2003). Print.

Delays in posting

I've been away from my desk, dealing with computer issues (slower than molasses in January!), and took a week vacation. I will have a new post by the end of the week as I have read Yu Hua's To Live, and watched the corresponding film. Quite a difference between the two entities. More later.