Dying to Survive

Dying to Survive is a 2018 Chinese comedy-drama film[3] directed by Wen Muye in his feature film debut. The film is based on the real-life story of Lu Yong (陆勇), a Chinese leukemia patient who smuggled cheap but unproven cancer medicine from India for 1,000 Chinese cancer sufferers in 2004.[4][5] Dying to Survive stars Xu Zheng in the lead role, who also co-produced the film with Ning Hao.

Dying to Survive
Traditional我不是藥神
Simplified我不是药神
MandarinWǒ Bú Shì Yào Shén
LiterallyI'm Not a Medicine God
Directed byWen Muye
Produced by
Written by
  • Han Jianü
  • Zhong Wei
  • Wen Muye
Starring
  • Ning Hao
  • Zhou Yiwei
  • Wang Chuanjun
  • Tan Zhuo
  • Zhang Yu
  • Yang Xinmin
  • Wang Yanhui
CinematographyWang Boxue
Edited byZhu Lin
Production
company
  • Dirty Monkey Films Group
  • Beijing Joy Leader Culture Communication Co.
  • Huanxi Media Group
  • Beijing Jingxi Culture & Tourism Co.
  • Beijing Universe Cultural Development Co.
  • Beijing Talent International Film Co.
Release date
Running time
117 minutes
CountryChina
LanguageMandarin
Budget$10.9 million[1]
Box office$453 million[2]

Plot

An aphrodisiac peddler, Cheng Yong, is in financial trouble. His store has not been making profits for a long time and his father urgently needs a large sum of money for brain surgery.

One day a man wearing thick layers of surgical masks comes to his shop. He asks Cheng to bring a cheap drug from India in return for a large sum of money. Due to patent protection, the Swiss drug Imatinib is very expensive and cannot be afforded by most leukemia patients in China. However, a special inexpensive generic version of it is available in India.

Desperate for money, Cheng agrees to risk smuggling the drug into China. As more chronic myelogenous leukemia patients start to buy drugs from him, Cheng becomes rich. His motivation started to change after he witnessed devastated patients whose family has been pushed into poverty by costly cancer treatments, walk away with hope for the future.

At the same time, Chinese police notice the availability of the contraband Geliening and vow to crack down on the unlicensed generic drug, as the originator company Novartis sued the Indian government for infringing its patent.

Cast

  • Xu Zheng as Cheng Yong
  • Tan Zhuo as Liu Sihui
  • Wang Chuanjun as Lü Shouyi
  • Wang Yanhui as Zhang Changlin
  • Zhang Yu as Peng Hao
  • Zhou Yiwei as Cao Bin
  • Yang Xinmin as Pastor Liu
  • Gong Beibi as Cao Ling, Cheng Yong's ex-wife and Cao Bin's elder sister
  • Keith Shillitoe
  • Jia Chenfei
  • Li Naiwen
  • Wang Jiajia as Lü Shouyi's wife
  • Ning Hao
  • Shahbaz Khan
  • Nishith Avinash Shah as Translator

Box office

On opening day, the film topped the Chinese box office and grossed $49.71 million, including preview screenings.[6] By the end of its opening weekend, the film had grossed $199.58 million,[7] the fourth biggest opening weekend ever in China.[8] As of September 15, 2018, the film has grossed $453 million, becoming the year's third highest-grossing film at the Chinese box office.[9]

Critical reception

Pang-Chieh Ho of SupChina wrote that Dying to Survive "might be China's best movie of the year". She compared the film's social realist themes to Hollywood film Dallas Buyers Club, Indian film Dangal, and Chinese film Angels Wear White.[10] Though Simon Abrams of RogerEbert.com also compared the film to Dallas Buyers Club, he gave Dying to Survive two out of four stars, criticizing the excessive focus on Cheng to the detriment of the film's message and at the expense of other characters. He stated that "I’d have an easier time accepting the trite, asked-and-answered conclusions... if [the director and co-writers] were more adept at tugging at viewers' heart-strings."[11]

Impact

The film sparked debate about the cost of healthcare in China. Chinese Premier Li Keqiang cited the film in an appeal to regulators to "speed up price cuts for cancer drugs" and "reduce the burden on families".[12]

Accolades

Award Category Recipients Result
55th Golden Horse AwardsBest Feature FilmDying to SurviveNominated
Best Leading ActorXu ZhengWon
Best Supporting ActorZhang YuNominated
Best New DirectorWen MuyeWon
Best Original ScreenplayHan Jianü, Zhong Wei and Wen MuyeWon
Best Makeup & Costume DesignLi MiaoNominated
Best Film EditingJolin ZhuNominated
14th Changchun Film FestivalBest Feature FilmDying to SurviveWon
Best Leading ActorXu ZhengWon
Best ScreenplayHan Jianv, Zhong Wei and Wen MuyeWon
Best Supporting ActorWang ChuanjunWon
42nd Montreal World Film FestivalBest ScreenplayHan Jianv, Zhong Wei and Wen MuyeWon
5th Silk Road International Film FestivalBest Feature FilmDying to SurviveWon
Hainan International Film Festival[13]Best FilmDying to SurviveWon
38th Hong Kong Film AwardsBest Film from Mainland and TaiwanDying to SurvivePending
gollark: Some people appear to find it fun.
gollark: I can generate arbitrarily many variations on basically anything, but if they're not materially different they're not really novel.
gollark: It's the same class of problem.
gollark: I have read "fun" slightly too often and am now experiencing semantic satiation.
gollark: Also different preferences.

References

  1. "《我不是药神》使北京文化涨停 会不会再现过山车?" ["I am not a drug god" to make Beijing cultural daily limit will reproduce the roller coaster?]. Sina Corp. Retrieved 3 July 2018.
  2. "Dying To Survive (2018)". Box Office Mojo. Retrieved 15 September 2018.
  3. Tartaglione, Nancy (10 July 2018). "'Ant-Man And The Wasp' Zaps $86M In Debut; China's 'Dying To Survive' Prescribes $200M – International Box Office". Deadline. Retrieved 12 July 2018.
  4. Hunwick, Robert Foyle (2014-12-22). "Chinese 'Dallas Buyers Club' founder charged with fraud". The Daily Telegraph.
  5. Patranobis, Sutirtho (2018-06-04). "Movie on Chinese patients buying Indian cancer drugs triggers massive pre-release buzz". Hindustan Times.
  6. "Daily Box Office > China (07/05/2018)". EntGroup. Retrieved 5 July 2018.
  7. "Daily Box Office > China (07/08/2018)". EntGroup. Retrieved 8 July 2018.
  8. Tartaglione, Nancy (8 July 2018). "'Ant-Man And The Wasp' Zaps $85M In Debut; China's 'Dying To Survive' Prescribes $200M – International Box Office". Deadline.
  9. "2018 China Yearly Box Office Results". Box Office Mojo. Retrieved 15 September 2018.
  10. Ho, Pang-Chieh. "'Dying to Survive,' a comedy about illegally importing drugs, might be China's best movie of the year". SupChina. Retrieved 6 July 2018.
  11. Abrams, Simon (9 August 2019). "Dying to Survive Movie Review". RogerEbert.com. Ebert Digital LLC. Retrieved 19 August 2019.
  12. "Cancer drug movie strikes nerve in China, becomes box-office hit". Reuters. 18 July 2018.
  13. Fan, Xu (20 December 2018). "New adventure". China Daily.

[1] [2] [3] [4] [5]

  1. Zhang Liangqin Cui Xin. "I am just a lucky cancer patient", Jiangsu Net, China, 20 July 2018. Retrieved on 8 January 2019.
  2. Tang Yanfei. "I am not a drug god" prototype Lu Yong: "There are fewer people looking for me to buy medicine now, it is a good thing.", Guancha, China, 6 July 2018. Retrieved on 8 January 2019.
  3. Yang Fenglin. "The anti-cancer drug "purchasing the first person" was sued, and more than 100 leukemia people jointly called for decriminalization", Guangming Network, China, 31 January 2015. Retrieved on 8 January 2019.
  4. Qian Weihua. "Anti-cancer drug "purchasing the first person" Lu Yong was arrested 300 patients had pleaded for it" Archived 2019-01-09 at the Wayback Machine, Netease News, China, 1 January 2015. Retrieved on 8 January 2019.
  5. Li Yan. ""The first person to purchase cancer drugs" was finally acquitted." Archived 2015-07-17 at the Wayback Machine, Netease News, China, 11 April 2015. Retrieved on 8 January 2019.
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