Fugui’s Character Development

 

The Astonishing Character Growth of a Gambler

Yimou portrays Fugui’s character growth through the use of emotion. At first, I had difficulty following along with To Live because, at the moment of watching the film, I did not understand that Yimou was conveying strong feelings and emotions throughout each and every scene. I barely recognized his wonderful emotive storytelling since I was only able to feel it through the movie’s masterful acting. It was not obvious to me at all until I began to write this blog post.

Throughout the film, Yimou shows Fugui’s selfishness and care-free attitude through his poor decisions that eventually end up hindering others as well as himself. Although Fugui starts off on the wrong foot by losing everything he once had, by the end of the film, he ends up maturing and learning plenty of life lessons from his poor decisions.

A Few Examples in the Film

Addiction

I was pulled in by the first few scenes of the movie, which involve him gambling with his “friends”, that cleverly showcase Fugui’s true unthoughtful, harsh attitude, and his selfish nature through his actions, facial expressions, and gestures. I could literally feel the tension in the atmosphere of the room when Fugui disrespectfully tells his wife, Jiazhen, to go home even after she admonished him. I was fascinated by his seemingly natural acting of banging the table, eyes darting back and forth, and especially him death-staring his wife several times, that displayed his frustration towards his wife. In addition, his careless actions of relentlessly playing that addicting game with his comrades portray that his only purpose in life is to gain money, which further shows his selfishness.

 

Renewal

I was enthralled at the conclusion of the film at older Fugui’s matured character compared to how he was in the past. He is clearly more of a fatherly figure than he was supposed to be back in his younger days. Yimou shows his character change through Fugui’s acting, which involves him now taking care of Jiazhen, now that she is also in her old age, as well as his grandchild. To me, the still image below of Fugui holding a chick metaphorically represents his attentiveness to his grandson and his wife. It is clear that his past experiences of losing everything he had, his son, and then even his daughter, motivate him to be a better person and to try to live a normal life.

 

 

Sources

http://sites.asiasociety.org/uschinaforum/chinese-artists/ge-you/

http://www.filmsufi.com/2010/04/to-live-zhang-yimou-1994.html

Wang Wah Gay’s Intrusive Personality

A Peculiar Portrait

During a few occasions throughout the film, Wang Ben Loy and Mei Oi are “having fun with each other” in a bedroom within their house. A portrait of Wang Wah Gay, the nosy and protective father of Wang Ben Loy, is present on a table near the bed in these situations.

He’s Always Watching….

I was inspired to draw this piece because Wayne Wang ingeniously utilized the portrait of Wang Wah Gay to further show his intrusiveness. Throughout those specific bedroom scenes, Ben would put away the portrait to ensure that his dad was not looking at him and Mei’s “playfulness” in bed. Ben’s action of hiding the portrait shows that he is uncomfortable with his father bugging him about getting married.

 

Hello! I am a Creative Media student who likes to draw. My blog will focus on Chinese film authors in the form of drawings. My posts will include personal artwork as well as a brief description of why I drew it.