"Zhang's next co-produced and financed film To Live, was shown at Cannes without the authority's permission and pre-sold before it could be censored which also happened to Tian Zhuangzhuang's The Blue Kite. ... In contrast to The Blue Kite Zhang doesn't want to emphasise the tragedies and sufferings that Chinese people have learnt to regard as endemic, but rather the fortitude and general good humour that sustain them. The focus on the 'good humour' might have saved Zhang's career. ... Those incidents have resulted in the government introducing new regulations to prevent them 'losing face'. From now on the authorities demand that future 'joint-venture' productions must be principally financed in China, and then the negatives of those films must be processed and kept in China."
— Fabian Ziesing: Zhang Yimou Essay

"Director Zhang Yimou is well known for his expressive film-making, combining a sure touch for human affairs with events on an epic scale, but Huozhe is special. In a superficial way Fugui and Jiazhen are purely struggling to exist (hence the title), while of deeper interest are the sacrifices and compromises necessary. At all times their situation is precarious (mostly through the threat of being denounced as enemies of the Revolution) but they pull through, either alone or together, by dint of their will and determination. Added complexity arises through the fact that many critical turns are taken by chance, only revealing their consequences subsequently (such as Fugui's gambling loss). The moments of realisation which follow these junctures form some of Huozhe's strongest scenes. A script of such power demands actors of range and depth, which both Gong Li and Ge You are. Their total immersion into character is utterly convincing, bringing forth joy, laughter, understanding, humility and unbearable agony. There is also a real spark between Li and You, a sense of actual love - it's impossible to understate the excellence of their performances. Huozhe is an extremely emotional picture but it's the roles which bring tears, so devastating are the tribulations which weigh on them. For completion, the other players are fine, the sets and locations fitting and the sparse score appropriate. Huozhe indicates just what cinema is all about and why I love it so."
— Damian Cannon, Movie Reviews UK

"The fact that To Live was presented as character-driven drama helped the film to overcome the hurdle of history", says Robinson. "By To Live, Zhang was a star director. He had a reputation for doing different things with each film. To Live was his first epic story, and touched on a more modern China. It was also not preachy about politics. They were backgrounded to the drama. Yet To Live makes some clear political points, even if they are rendered in an easily digestible form. When it comes to column space, though, marketers realize that the 'special' attention Chinese authorities pay their filmmakers is good for publicity. Journalists and marketing managers alike know that Western editors are more amenable to running articles on Chinese film directors if there is a political angle. Era's campaign for To Live at Cannes in 1994 played upon the fact that Zhang had elected to stay in China to appease the authorities because the film had not been officially granted permission to leave the country. The press conference saw gong Li sitting next to an empty chair bearing the name-card Zhang Yimou. In fact, may of the foreign press, unaware of the need for 'face-saving' in Chinese bureaucratic circles, assumed that Zhang had actually been banned from attending - something that didn't hurt the film's publicity at all."
— Richard James Havis: The Selling of Zhang Yimou: Marketing Chinese Images, Cinemaya 30/1995

"Not unlike Abbas Kirostami’s films, the simplicity and elegance portray many hidden themes that hit with deep and lasting impact. Addiction, death, separation, birth, hardship, friendship, war, fortune are all explored with an adept level of un-cloying sentimental balance."
— Gary W. Tooze, dvdbeaver.com

"... die Darstellung des Krieges im Revolutions-Epos Leben! (Huozhe) kommt ohne Gräueltaten und ohne blutige Schlachtengemälde aus. Die Szenen könnten von Brecht oder Beckett stammen - so verfremdet und reduziert, wie der Krieg hier dargestellt wird, wirkt er wie absurdes Theater. "Dieses absurde Gefühl, das gilt auch für das Schicksal der Hauptfiguren, sie sind wie Grashalme, die ins Wasser geworfen wurden und mit der Strömung treiben. Das ist das typische Schicksal und die Mentalität der normalen chinesischen Massen", meint Zhang. ... "Die Chinesen haben soviel durchgemacht im Leben, aber trotzdem glauben die meisten, dass es irgendwann besser wird. Das ist das Hauptthema des Films, dessen chinesischer Originaltitel übersetzt einfach 'am Leben bleiben' heißt. Darum geht es. Das ist einerseits normal, andererseits aber bedeutender als heldenhafte Taten."
— Ralph Umard: Zhang Yimou. Mit dem Publikum leben, leiden oder fluchen, epd Film 9/2000