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      Life on a String

      1991 2h 0m Fantasy List
      Reviews 71% Audience Score 250+ Ratings The master musician (Liu Zhongyuan) and his young apprentice, Shitou (Huang Lei), are traveling through the demanding mountainous region of western China. They're also both blind. The master was given a sanxian as a child and told that his sight would be restored after he broke his 1,000th string, and he's currently on string 995. Shitou, however, seems to be more interested in Lanxiu (Xu Qing), the beautiful young villager he meets on his journey. Read More Read Less

      Critics Reviews

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      Fernando F. Croce CinePassion Chen's symbols at times clash as expressively as Paradjanov's Sep 25, 2009 Full Review Emanuel Levy EmanuelLevy.Com Rated: 3/5 Jun 15, 2005 Full Review Michael Szymanski International Press Academy Rated: 3/5 Jun 1, 2005 Full Review Andy Klein New Times Rated: 3/5 Jun 5, 2004 Full Review Read all reviews

      Audience Reviews

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      Audience Member Okay but not the best in Chinese film history. Acceptable but not great. Rated 3 out of 5 stars 02/07/23 Full Review Audience Member Most movies only offer a straight-forward, physical battle that is always overcome in the end. This movie, while some would say is depressing, is more uplifting than you almost ever see in this arthouse genre, and yet it's much deeper than some story about a person gaining victory over another person, or a person against nature-gone-amok, or 99% of all film stories. For this high-brow concept alone, 4 stars are deserved. The constantly slow pacing is just par for the course. But maybe because I'm a musician and philosophically-minded, I got into the ponderances of this film more than most people will, so I am giving it an extra half star. I was interested the whole way and captivated by the music. Perhaps there is a way to make this material 5 star-worthy with an adjustment to pacing or style. But this was a masterful director's early work, so what do you expect?<br/><br/>This could be a Chinese "Ran" in a way -- long & contemplative. And similarly as that story was ancient Japan but based on a Shakespeare play, I was also struck here by how timeless the story was. It could've as easily been 1000 years in the past as the 21st century. This brought an extra meditative quality to the film. <br/><br/>Sure, it ended up feeling like a Director's Cut that didn't need to be as long as it was. Could've used 10 minutes shaved off here and there. But it was a remarkable, gripping watch despite being as slow as expected. There's powerful enough stuff going on. Moving stuff even. If you're willing to think deeply about what you're being shown and why. <br/><br/>Overall, though, it feels a little typical of older Yimou & Kaige stuff. They're both incredibly similar filmmakers but Yimou bests Kaige every time, and this one is by Kaige.<br/><br/>You can either handle this meditative arthouse style or you can't. Most people can't. That doesn't mean this isn't a great piece of work that took meticulous effort. Rated 4.5 out of 5 stars 01/30/23 Full Review Audience Member Old blind musician wanders around the Chinese backwaters with young blind disciple in tow. There is a plot.. old musician believes than when he breaks his 1000th string on his instrument (hence the title) he will see again and there's some quite pretty music and some philosophical fortune-cookie musings but really not enough to keep you glued to the screen for 110 minutes. Quite a good film to take up origami to keep you semi-preoccupied during the slow unfolding. . <img src="http://www.dvdtimes.co.uk/images/noel/lifeonastring2.jpg"> Rated 2.5 out of 5 stars 02/22/23 Full Review Audience Member The images in the film are quite frankly beautiful. The story is hard to follow at first, but it makes sense by the end. I was impressed and greatly enjoyed watching this film. Rated 4 out of 5 stars 01/17/23 Full Review Audience Member This is greatest movie, this is very slow but beautiful movie. it very touch me. I was in high school when I watched this, but never get bored. beautiful picture, I think this is the best movie of Kaige Chen Rated 5 out of 5 stars 01/26/23 Full Review Audience Member Kaige Chen, shows here the vastness of China (In Farewell My Concubine, he depicts the oppression of the individual in the times of the Cultural Revolution. In Together, he shows the rise of the individual, in more recent times.) I love foreign films that are expressions of their country's identity, or their cultural identity. Rated 5 out of 5 stars 02/06/23 Full Review Read all reviews Post a rating

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      Life on a String

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      Movie Info

      Synopsis The master musician (Liu Zhongyuan) and his young apprentice, Shitou (Huang Lei), are traveling through the demanding mountainous region of western China. They're also both blind. The master was given a sanxian as a child and told that his sight would be restored after he broke his 1,000th string, and he's currently on string 995. Shitou, however, seems to be more interested in Lanxiu (Xu Qing), the beautiful young villager he meets on his journey.
      Director
      Chen Kaige
      Genre
      Fantasy
      Original Language
      Chinese
      Release Date (DVD)
      Jun 11, 2007
      Runtime
      2h 0m
      Sound Mix
      Surround