Beijing Taxi

Miao Wang's subtly beautiful and strangely mesmerizing documentary, filmed over the course of several years leading up to the 2008 Summer Olympics, gets to the soul of contemporary urban China through the perspective of three Beijing cab drivers: Bai, a fiftysomething cabbie who grew up during the Cultural Revolution; Zhou, a jovially optimistic thirtysomething; and Wei, a hard-nosed young mother. The trio meet their daily struggles with humor and quiet determination, although always in danger of falling through the cracks in a rapidly changing Chinese economy. Through their stories Wang shows how lives of ordinary citizens are affected, not only by the looming mega-event that will shine the world spotlight on Beijing for a few weeks, but also by the encroaching capitalist juggernaut lumbering its way through the culture, trampling Chinese tradition underfoot. Set to an entrancing soundtrack by Stephen Ulrich and Itamar Ziegler, Beijing Taxi offers stunning panoramas of Beijing's formidable modern urban sprawl, as well as more intimate glimpses of everyday life. In post-Mao society, Bai worries about healthcare and growing inequality; Wei has to take a side job selling clothes to help support her family (and she hopes education will give her daughter a fighting chance to succeed in an increasingly cutthroat economic environment); and Zhou clings to traditions as the metropolis changes around him. DVD extras include production stills. A revealing and deeply human look at the society behind the headlines of an emerging superpower, this is highly recommended. Aud: C, P. (M. Sandlin)