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
Written by
  • Han Jianü
  • Zhong Wei
  • Wen Muye
Starring
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
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. The Swedish drug Geliening is very expensive in China, due to patent protection, causing many patients to not be able to afford the treatments, but, a very inexpensive generic version of it is available in India.

Desperate for money, Cheng agrees to risk smuggling the drug into China. As more CML patients buy drugs from him, Cheng becomes rich. His motivation starts to change after he witnesses 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 law enforcement agencies notices the availability of the contraband Geliening and vows to crackdown on the unlicensed generic drug as the originator company of the drug begins to sue 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".[10]

The film sparked debate about the cost of medical care among Chinese people. 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".[11]

References

  1. ↑ Sina Corp https://finance.sina.cn/stock/ssgs/2018-07-03/detail-ihevauxi8605412.d.html?from=wap. Retrieved July 3, 2018. Missing or empty |title= (help)
  2. ↑ "Dying To Survive (2018)". Box Office Mojo. Retrieved September 15, 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 July 5, 2018.
  7. ↑ "Daily Box Office > China (07/08/2018)". EntGroup. Retrieved July 8, 2018.
  8. ↑ Tartaglione, Nancy (July 8, 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 September 15, 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 July 6, 2018.
  11. ↑ "Cancer drug movie strikes nerve in China, becomes box-office hit". Reuters. 2018-07-19.
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