To Live (Zhang Yimou, China, 1994)
Three decades in the life of a Chinese family, spanning the Chinese Civil War, the Communist takeover, and Mao Zedong's Cultural Revolution. Fugui, Jiazhen and their children are not exceptionally heroic or important figures, they are entirely ordinary Chinese citizens. They're just trying to survive the tumultuous events of mid-20th century China, to raise a family and live quietly together, as happily as they can. It's all there in the title, they just want to live and nothing more. But even that was a dangerous, sometimes impossible task in their time. To Live shows bluntly how fearful and perilous a place Communist China could be, and how the people of China were misled by its utopian promises. The propagandistic language and groupthink insidiously sneaks into the private lives of families. The dictates of the Cultural Revolution destroys much of ancient Chinese culture - like Fugui being told to burn his beautiful, ornate puppets because they symbolize old feudal excesses, even though we have seen them bring so much joy to the community in his shadow puppetry shows. Mao claimed to be bringing about a true communal society, yet his rule weakened and outright destroyed the pillars of community, family and culture.
Unsurprisingly, the modern PRC government was not fond of To Live. It was banned in China and director Zhang Yimou, who had already gotten in trouble with censors for his earlier masterpiece Raise the Red Lantern, was banned from filmmaking for two years. Yimou protested this decision, saying that To Live was not necessarily anti-Communist. Indeed, To Live is not explicit in its criticisms or a political screed, it just portrays an era with honesty. But the PRC does not seem to encourage honesty about its country's history.
It's a shame, as Zhang Yimou no doubt made To Live primarily for Chinese audiences. It's an old-fashioned melodrama, and an exceptionally good one. The characters are relatable, likable and multi-faceted. And for all the tragedies and heartbreaks it contains, To Live is not at all hopeless or fatalistic. It's really a tribute to the everyday courage and resilience of one family, who find small but priceless measures of joy and happiness within the difficult situations they've been dealt. I hope that Chinese people have found ways to watch To Live regardless of its ban, it rightfully should be considered a national treasure.
The Brainiac (Chano Urueta, Mexico, 1962)
1661, New Spain. The Spanish Inquisition condemns Baron Vitrelius of Estara to be burned at the stake as a heretic and necromancer. While engulfed in flames, a bright comet passes overhead. The Baron cries out that, in 300 years when that comet passes by again, he will return and take his vengeance by killing the ancestors of those who have sentenced him to death. We flash forward to 1961 Mexico City. Astronomers are eagerly anticipating a rare sighting of a comet, but they are mystified when it appears then mysteriously disappears. In the desert a passerby notices a huge rock fall from the sky. A hideous, hairy alien beast steps out of the comet and sucks the poor guy's brains out with his giant forked tongue. He then transforms into none other than the Baron, back to enact his revenge! It will come as a surprise to no-one that the pretty lady astronomer is one of his intended victims.
The whole thing is too absurd to not be enjoyable. The Baron's alien form is hysterical. It's obviously a guy wearing a rubber mask. The death scenes show the monster licking the back of a victim's head with his big fake tongue while they shriek. My favorite detail - the Baron keeps his victim's brains in a goblet stashed in his living room, just in case he wants a quick snack. It's a pretty dreadful movie, without the spooky atmosphere or on-a-budget creativity of the best B-movies, but is utterly daft enough to be fun.
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