''Dying to Survive'' is a 2018 Chinese

comedy-drama Comedy drama, also known by the portmanteau ''dramedy'', is a genre of dramatic works that combines elements of comedy and drama. The modern, scripted-television examples tend to have more humorous bits than simple comic relief seen in a typical ...

film 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 Leukemia ( also spelled leukaemia and pronounced ) is a group of blood cancers that usually begin in the bone marrow and result in high numbers of abnormal blood cells. These blood cells are not fully developed and are called ''blasts'' or ' ...

patient who smuggled cheap and generic cancer medicine from India for 1,000 Chinese

cancer Cancer is a group of diseases involving abnormal cell growth with the potential to invade or spread to other parts of the body. These contrast with benign tumors, which do not spread. Possible signs and symptoms include a lump, abnormal b ...

sufferers in 2004. ''Dying to Survive'' stars Xu Zheng in the lead role, who also co-produced the film with

Ning Hao Ning Hao (; born 9 September 1977) is a Chinese film director. Ning studied at the Taiyuan Film School, where he majored in scenic design. He later transferred to the Art Department of Peking University. Ning eventually graduated from the Beij ...

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 Imatinib, sold under the brand names Gleevec and Glivec (both marketed worldwide by Novartis) among others, is an oral chemotherapy medication used to treat cancer. Imatinib is a small molecule inhibitor targeting multiple receptor tyrosine kin ...

is very expensive and cannot be afforded by most leukemia patients in China. However, an 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 Chronic myelogenous leukemia (CML), also known as chronic myeloid leukemia, is a cancer of the white blood cells. It is a form of leukemia characterized by the increased and unregulated growth of myeloid cells in the bone marrow and the accumulat ...

patients start to buy drugs from him, Cheng becomes rich. His motivation starts to change after he witnesses devastated patients whose families had 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 Nuo Wa (reflecting

Novartis Novartis AG is a Swiss-American multinational pharmaceutical corporation based in Basel, Switzerland and Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States (global research).name="novartis.com">https://www.novartis.com/research-development/research-loc ...

in real life) sued the Indian government for infringing its patent.

Cast

* Xu Zheng as Cheng Yong *

Tan Zhuo Tan Zhuo (, born 25 September 1983) is a Chinese television and film actress. She appeared in the films ''Spring Fever'' (2009, banned in China), ''Dying to Survive ''Dying to Survive'' is a 2018 Chinese comedy-drama film directed by Wen Muye ...

as Liu Sihui *

Wang Chuanjun Wang Chuanjun (; born 18 October 1985), also known as Eric Wang, is a Chinese actor and host. Wang is noted for playing Sekitani Kamiya in the romantic comedy television series ''iPartment'', which enjoyed the highest ratings in China when it was ...

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 Beibi Gong () (born February 21, 1978 in Fujian, China) is a Chinese film and television actress. Beginning her acting career as a teenager, she later graduated from the prestigious Central Academy of Drama where she first gained recognition amo ...

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 *

* Shahbaz Khan *Nishith Avinash Shah as Translator

Box office

On opening day, the film topped the Chinese box office and grossed , including preview screenings. By the end of its opening weekend, the film had grossed , the fourth biggest opening weekend ever in China. As of September 15, 2018, the film has grossed , becoming the year's third highest-grossing film at the Chinese box office.

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 ''Dallas Buyers Club'' is a 2013 American biographical drama film written by Craig Borten and Melisa Wallack, and directed by Jean-Marc Vallée. The film tells the story of Ron Woodroof (Matthew McConaughey), an AIDS patient diagnosed in the mi ...

'', Indian film '' Dangal'', and Chinese film ''

Angels Wear White ''Angels Wear White'' ( zh, 嘉年华) is a 2017 Chinese drama film directed by Vivian Qu. It was screened in the main competition section of the 74th Venice International Film Festival. Plot Mia (Vicky Chen), a teenager, works as a cleaner in ...

''. 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 he director and co-writerswere more adept at tugging at viewers' heart-strings."

Impact

The film sparked debate about the cost of

healthcare in China Healthcare in China has undergone basic changes over the twentieth century and twenty-first centuries, using both public and private medical institutions and insurance programs. As of 2020, about 95% of the population has at least basic health in ...

. Chinese Premier

Li Keqiang Li Keqiang (born 1 July 1955) is a Chinese politician who is the outgoing premier of China. An economist by profession, Li is head of China's executive branch as well as one of the leading figures behind China's Financial and Economic Affai ...

cited the film in an appeal to regulators to "speed up price cuts for cancer drugs" and "reduce the burden on families".

Accolades

References

External links

*{{Imdb title, 7362036 2018 films 2018 comedy-drama films Chinese comedy-drama films Films about cancer Films about drugs Films set in Mumbai Films set in Shanghai Films shot in Mumbai Films shot in Shanghai Films based on real people