Beautiful Life

This film (drama)Also known as美丽人生，is aMainland ChinaProducerbeauty live，At2008Released in year 。The dialogue language isMandarin Chinese，Current Douban rating8.6(For reference only)。

In the 1980s, in a small town, there was a theater troupe residential compound. The director of the troupe, along with the male and female leads and the stage manager, went to Beijing for a meeting to discuss the play "Beautiful Life." On their way back, the driver, Li Dachuan, drove under the influence of alcohol, causing a car accident. The old artisan Wu Zhengde lost his son and the daughter who had been traveling with him, while siblings Fan Yue and Fan Yang lost their parents. Actress Zhao Pingping lost her husband. Wu Zhengde was recognized as a good person in the troupe; having lost his own child, he took special care of the orphaned siblings, Fan Yang and Fan Yue. Eight-year-old Fan Yang grew closer to Wu Zhengde, while nine-year-old Fan Yue looked down on this "working class" man because "our parents are all great actors!" Fan Yue believed that anyone trying to get close to the Fan family had ulterior motives, seeking to benefit from the wealth left by their parents. Just then, a "aunt" appeared, coveting the Fan family's wealth. The aunt was chased away by Fan Yue and Wu Zhengde, which further strengthened Fan Yue's belief—she was nine and didn't trust anyone. Zhao Pingping was an actress who "couldn't cry" and had always been well-treated by life, unable to shed any tears; however, this time she tasted the pain and even lost the child she was carrying due to excessive grief. As a widow, she faced numerous troubles upon returning from the hospital. She attempted suicide but was saved by Wu Zhengde. Because they shared the same suffering, or perhaps out of empathy, or even in defiance, Zhao Pingping proposed living together with Wu Zhengde and the children. Wu Zhengde was taken aback; he thought he was just a solitary old artisan, while Zhao Pingping was still young and beautiful, with a recently deceased husband who was a director. But Zhao Pingping was determined and tried various ways to convince him, even enlisting the help of the organization, yet Wu Zhengde refused to relent. The "aunt's" efforts continued, and the Fan family's property remained coveted. Faced with Fan Yang's tears, Wu Zhengde's heart softened. To obtain custody of the Fan siblings, he finally married Zhao Pingping, and amidst the astonished gazes of everyone, the four of them formed a "temporary family." Time flew by quickly. The makeshift "family" had already lasted for ten years. Rumors circulated in the troupe that Zhao Pingping and Wu Zhengde's marriage was "officially non-existent," and the deputy director was always pursuing Zhao Pingping... Zhao Pingping was troubled by how her relationship with Wu Zhengde was "holding each other back." Meanwhile, Fan Yue, now working as a nurse, was disobedient and often clashed with Zhao Pingping over the issue of her "boyfriend." Zhao Pingping and Wu Zhengde discussed that once Fan Yang turned eighteen, they would proceed with a divorce, and Wu Zhengde agreed readily. On the night of Fan Yang's birthday, he didn’t return home; he committed a "big deed" by stabbing Li Dachuan’s son, Li Qiang. This act sent Li Qiang to the hospital and Fan Yang to the detention center, creating a big hole in this "family." If Li Qiang died, Fan Yang would face the death penalty, and Fan Yue suffered further as her boyfriend abandoned her, spending every day in tears. Wu Zhengde and Zhao Pingping were exhausted, running around the small town searching for people or money. No one expected that after the housing reforms, the first person to sell a house in the troupe would be the honest Wu Zhengde. He sold his own house to pay the exorbitant medical bills, and Zhao Pingping found the military bed that Wu Zhengde had set up in the props storage room. In the warehouse, Zhao Pingping hugged Wu Zhengde, and their relationship finally settled down. Li Qiang’s mother finally made compensation demands; she would let Fan Yang go if she received the Fan family's house after Li Qiang recovered. The Fan family couldn't hold onto their house, and Fan Yue signed her name on the deed, moving into Zhao Pingping's place. Zhao Pingping's home had partitioned rooms made of curtains; the house was smaller, but the hearts were closer. When Fan Yang came out of the detention center, he knelt before Zhao Pingping and Wu Zhengde, declaring that he wanted to be a family for life. Another decade passed, and Zhao Pingping and Wu Zhengde were nearly elderly. Fan Yang was approaching thirty and ran a successful auto repair shop, yet he didn't date. Wu Zhengde intended to set him up with his apprentice’s daughter, Xiaoxian, who had already agreed, but Fan Yang outright refused. Zhao Pingping secretly investigated and discovered that Fan Yang had been involved with a woman named Aya, who was in her thirties, had a child, and had just come out of prison. This was unacceptable! Fan Yue also caused trouble; her boyfriend, He Erdong, was from Taiwan and treated her excessively well, making Wu Zhengde comment, "Why does everything he says sound like lines from a play?" It was unsettling. However, everything kept moving forward. Fan Yang's relationship with Aya ended, as she turned out to be part of a drug trafficking group, and Fan Yang became a "special informant" for the police. Fan Yang took Xiaoxian's hand, and Fan Yue donned a wedding dress. At the wedding, Zhao Pingping fainted—not from excitement, but because she was diagnosed with cancer. In the hospital, Zhao Pingping held Wu Zhengde's hand, saying, "I haven’t lived enough..." Fortunately, the surgery was successful, and Zhao Pingping survived. Years later, the troupe restaged Beautiful Life, and she was selected as the female lead. Her experiences were so rich that she couldn't stop crying whenever the lights came on... Wu Zhengde was also re-hired as the deputy art director, enjoying himself immensely. Fan Yue's son, Tiantian, was already four, but Xiaoxian hadn’t shown any signs of pregnancy, making the elderly couple anxious. Xiaoxian was found to have "retroflexion of the uterus" and needed a quiet environment, so the couple planned to rent a house; meanwhile, Fan Yang discussed adopting Aya's child, knowing how it felt to be unwanted. Xiaoxian firmly opposed... Fan Yue's in-laws, who hadn’t seen her for four years, arrived from Taiwan. During a shopping trip with her mother-in-law, the latter suddenly disappeared, along with Fan Yue’s husband and child. Fan Yang took Fan Yue to report to the police, and they coincidentally ran into Li Qiang, who had become a policeman. After a preliminary investigation, Li Qiang believed it was likely a case of "deceptive childbirth." It turned out that for four years, He Erdong had used various excuses to avoid obtaining a marriage certificate with Fan Yue, sending her into madness... With everyone's efforts, the child was finally found, and upon hearing the child’s call, Fan Yue regained her senses. Li Qiang re-entered Fan Yue's life, revealing that he had always liked her since childhood. Fan Yue said she needed to think... "Beautiful Life" was performed in Beijing, and onstage, Zhao Pingping looked dazzlingly beautiful under the bright lights, which shone like daylight. Wu Zhengde felt dizzy and fell headfirst into the orchestra pit. In the hospital, as Wu Zhengde lay unconscious, all the family members rushed to his side, many of them... They waited for Wu Zhengde to open his eyes. ...In terms of blood relations, each of them was lonely, but now they were clearly gathered together, calling out for their family and their love. The most bitter experience in life is losing a father at a young age, losing a spouse in midlife, and losing a child in old age. Due to an accident, three families were shattered; yet, these three shattered families reformed into one new family, along with its offshoots, witnessing how these men and women supported each other through tears and laughter in their beautiful lives...