THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Sunday, January 29, 1995 TAG: 9501270555
SECTION: DAILY BREAK PAGE: E9 EDITION: FINAL
TYPE: Movie Review
SOURCE: BY MAL VINCENT, MOVIE CRITIC
LENGTH: Medium: 75 lines
AFTER A LONG, dreary absence, history as melodrama is again present in movie theaters. The Montana wilderness and World War I are depicted in in ``Legends of the Fall.'' Beethoven's Ninth competes with his three girlfriends in a rather silly thing called ``Immortal Beloved.''
Coming soon is a French massacre in ``Queen Margot'' and the insanity of England's royal house in ``The Madness of King George'' - both played to the hilt with big-movie color, music and histrionics. Forget the facts, just look at the scenery.
None of them are any bigger than ``To Live,'' the Chinese epic that might be called the ``Gone With the Wind'' of that elusive country. In a little more than two hours, we get a saga that sweeps from the pre-revolutionary 1940s, through the Civil War, the so-called ``Great Leap Forward'' of the 1950s and Chairman Mao's ``Cultural Revolution'' of the 1960s. All this is told through the melodramatics of a single family.
The result is an episodic but entertaining film from masterful director Zhang Yimou, a man who revitalized the Chinese film industry. His previous two films, ``Raise the Red Lantern'' (sex in a feudal society) and ``Jou Dou'' (about the same steam as John Garfield and Lana Turner in ``The Postman Always Rings Twice''), were both knockouts. ``To Live'' doesn't have quite the vitality of the former films, mainly because it is so episodic.
Ge You, in a performance that won the best actor accolade at the Cannes Film Festival, plays the father, initially a brash young man who gambles away the family mansion and riches. When the Communists take over, the misfortune proves lucky because the new landlord is executed and the place burned to the ground.
Gon Li, the beautiful actress who is in all of Yimou's films, plays the long-suffering wife and mother.
During the Civil War, Ge You's character is forced to serve in the Nationalist Army. There are deaths. Every change results in impending tragedy, yet ``To Live'' is ultimately optimistic.
The film convinces us that fate plays an uncontrollable part in our lives and that our only defense is to keep going - to live.
Both the photography and the sets are wonders to behold.
``To Live'' has made news off-screen. A heavy favorite to win the top prize at the Cannes festival, it lost to America's ``Pulp Fiction'' - a decision that is still debated.
On his own home front, director Yimou has been chastised for the film's cynical look at China's history. Because China refused to enter the film in our Academy Awards race, it has no chance to even be nominated for an Oscar.
The Chinese government is making a mistake by not encouraging everyone possible to see this film because it offers a rare insight into that country's heritage.
Don't worry about being educated too much, though. It's mainly just a soap opera. In any case, it's quite an entertaining film - in Chinese with English subtitles. MEMO: Computer users can write their own review, and read the best of Mal
Vincent's reviews, on the Movie Page of the Pilot Online. See Page A2
for details.
ILLUSTRATION: MOVIE REVIEW
``To Live''
Cast: Ge You, Gong Li
Director: Zhang Yimou
Screenplay: You Hua and Lu Wei, based on the novel ``Lifetimes''
Music: Zhao Jiping
MPAA rating: Not rated by MPAA but contains violence
Mal's rating: ***1/2
Locations: Naro in Norfolk
by CNB