ABSTRACT
One of the main decisions a screenwriter must face in adapting a work is whether to be true to the setting. Sometimes the setting is intrinsic to the theme or characters being portrayed; in other cases, the theme or characters can find a newer, vibrant life through relocation, or a work from one time and place can simply be reworked to strengthen another story. Setting is also important in Zhang Yimou's To Live, based on the novel by the internationally acclaimed author Yu Hua about a southern Chinese aristocrat-turned-peasant. In real life, western snows proved so elusive due to global warming that the director had to fly the cast and crew to South America to include shots of snow-capped mountains. But within the time and space of the novel's adaptation, people can still honor a story in which the protagonist reflects on the mountainous "source of the waters" and "at the stars and the heavens".
