Dying to Survive

Dying to Survive
Traditional	我不是藥神
Simplified	我不是药神
Mandarin	Wǒ Bú Shì Yào Shén
Literally	I'm Not a Medicine God
Directed by	Wen Muye
Produced by	Ning Hao; Xu Zheng;
Written by	Han Jianü; Zhong Wei; Wen Muye;
Starring	Xu Zheng; Zhou Yiwei; Wang Chuanjun; Tan Zhuo; Zhang Yu; Yang Xinmin; Wang Yanhui;
Cinematography	Wang Boxue
Edited by	Zhu 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	June 19, 2018 (Shanghai International Film Festival); July 5, 2018 (China);
Running time	117 minutes
Country	China
Language	Mandarin
Budget	$10.9 million[1]
Box office	$453 million[2]

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.

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

Year	Award	Category	Recipients	Result
2018	55th Golden Horse Awards	Best Feature Film	Dying to Survive	Nominated
		Best Leading Actor	Xu Zheng	Won
		Best Supporting Actor	Zhang Yu	Nominated
		Best New Director	Wen Muye	Won
		Best Original Screenplay	Han Jianü, Zhong Wei and Wen Muye	Won
		Best Makeup & Costume Design	Li Miao	Nominated
		Best Film Editing	Jolin Zhu	Nominated
	14th Changchun Film Festival	Best Feature Film	Dying to Survive	Won
		Best Leading Actor	Xu Zheng	Won
		Best Screenplay	Han Jianv, Zhong Wei and Wen Muye	Won
		Best Supporting Actor	Wang Chuanjun	Won
	42nd Montreal World Film Festival	Best Screenplay	Han Jianv, Zhong Wei and Wen Muye	Won
	5th Silk Road International Film Festival	Best Feature Film	Dying to Survive	Won
	Hainan International Film Festival[13]	Best Film	Dying to Survive	Won
2019	38th Hong Kong Film Awards	Best Film from Mainland and Taiwan	Dying to Survive	Won

References

"《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.
"Dying To Survive (2018)". Box Office Mojo. Retrieved 15 September 2018.
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.
Hunwick, Robert Foyle (2014-12-22). "Chinese 'Dallas Buyers Club' founder charged with fraud". The Daily Telegraph.
Patranobis, Sutirtho (2018-06-04). "Movie on Chinese patients buying Indian cancer drugs triggers massive pre-release buzz". Hindustan Times.
"Daily Box Office > China (07/05/2018)". EntGroup. Retrieved 5 July 2018.
"Daily Box Office > China (07/08/2018)". EntGroup. Retrieved 8 July 2018.
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.
"2018 China Yearly Box Office Results". Box Office Mojo. Retrieved 15 September 2018.
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.
Abrams, Simon (9 August 2019). "Dying to Survive Movie Review". RogerEbert.com. Ebert Digital LLC. Retrieved 19 August 2019.
"Cancer drug movie strikes nerve in China, becomes box-office hit". Reuters. 18 July 2018.
Fan, Xu (20 December 2018). "New adventure". China Daily.

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

External links

Dying to Survive at IMDb

Zhang Liangqin Cui Xin. "I am just a lucky cancer patient", Jiangsu Net, China, 20 July 2018. Retrieved on 8 January 2019.
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.
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.
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.
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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[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.

[deadline-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.

[entgroup-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.

[chinadaily-13] Fan, Xu (20 December 2018). "New adventure". China Daily.

[14] Zhang Liangqin Cui Xin. "I am just a lucky cancer patient", Jiangsu Net, China, 20 July 2018. Retrieved on 8 January 2019.

[15] 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.

[16] 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.

[17] 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.

[18] 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.