The Herdsmen And To Live By Mao Zedong

The Cultural revolution was a movement led by Mao Zedong to rid China of capitalist and tradition elements. He wanted to preserve Communist ideology. During this time, filmmakers were restricted on what kind of films they could make and their films would fit the revolutionary model drama. The Herdsmen and To Live are films that focus on the Cultural revolution and its impact on China’s people. In both movies, there is an emphasis on the ordinary people. However, there is more emphasis on intellectuals in the Herdsman than To Live.
Cultural revolution was the movement to reassert control over China’s people. It was led by Mao Zedong. His main goal was to preserve communist ideology. This meant getting rid of capitalist, traditional and Western
Before the cultural revolution, Lingjun’s father fled China. His father is known for being influenced by Western culture and is seen as an enemy of the party. Xu’s mother dies soon after, leaving him an orphan. Lingjun becomes a teacher and is labeled as a rightist. He’s forced to move to the countryside and work on a ranch. In the movie, it’s obvious that Lingjun is feeling the effects of the cultural revolution. The scene where it flashes back and forth from the rope and Lingjun signals that he’s ready to commit suicide. There’s nothing left for him here. He’s an orphan, he’s been exiled and he’s been prosecuted because of his father’s actions. In the end, Lingjun has found happiness in what has happened. To deny going abroad with his father shows that he’s willing to stay and help in the advancement of
While, directors favoured the perspectives of intellectuals to emphasize the impact of the Cultural Revolution on China’s people, intellectuals weren’t their main focus. In these two movies, the perspective of the intellectuals are used to speak about social, political and psychological issues. In the Herdsmen, Lingjun was affected because he become a teacher. Whereas, in To Live, the intellectuals were imprisoned and couldn’t spread their knowledge to the younger people. The lack of their guidance leads to the death of Fugui’s daughter. The director wants to emphasize on how importance of intellectuals and what happens without