Round Four Resurrection ReviewTo Live (Zhang Yimou, 1994)
Won over Good Men, Good Women (verdict by Sam the Cinema Snob)Won over Legend of the Galactic Heroes: Overture to a New War (verdict by smirnoff)Won over Hakuchi (verdict by Bondo)Lost to Rebels of the Neon God (verdict by Jared)I had a passing thought — which would have been equal parts funny and cruel — to conceal my feelings about this round's resurrection candidates and secretly rank the films in reverse order of worthiness. Then, at the close of the round, I'd reveal in a big dramatic twist that it was actually the bottom three film that were my favorites and earning another shot in this bracket. In that alternate universe, fans of
To Live would have been happy today to see it leap to the top of the standings. That would have been a very tricky review to write, however. I suppose I'd have focused on my honest enthusiasm for Ge You's movie star qualities and for the scenes of operatic puppetry contained in the film, but after that I'd have really struggled to disguise just how bored I was with this Chinese history lesson. I don't know if it's just Far East fatigue on my part, having seen too many similar stories earlier in this bracket, or the fact that I tend not to like these family-through-the-decades type period pieces.
To Live kept reminding me subconsciously of some other film that disappointed me fairly recently, but I couldn't put a finger on which one until I read this line in
Leonard Maltin's Movie Guide's 3½-star review: "[The] only flaw is that episodic story eventually develops Edna Ferber-ish soap opera quality." That's when I realized I was thinking of George Stevens'
Giant, which bores me in very similar fashion. The melodramatic qualities of Zhang's film also hurt my experience, particularly the huge coincidence involving a tragedy at the center of the film. With
Ju Dou, I complained about Zhang's occasional tendency to let theme drive the narrative rather than derive from the narrative, and there's definitely some of that going on in
To Live. The editing is a big weakness of the film, and the visuals, at times, are a bit more rote than I've come to expect from Zhang. I'm being overcritical now, though, for it's a very respectable production that presents an appealing human story against an epic backdrop, all anchored by some strong performances. It's just not for me.
Resurrection Standings (the top three films will earn resurrection)Up next:
Fist of Legendpixote