The social effects of China's recent economic expansion are explored in filmmaker Lixin Fan's Last Train Home, which powerfully personalizes the topic by focusing on a peasant couple, Changhua Zhang and Suquin Chen, representative of the more than 130 million migrants who have left their villages to seek jobs in distant cities. The film follows the pair from 2006-08, documenting their harsh working conditions in a clothing factory, grim living arrangements, and the economic downturn that threatens their jobs. But the emphasis is on the difficulty they face traveling the thousand miles home for the New Year holiday to visit their children, daughter Qin and son Yang, who've lived with their grandmother for years. The couple have to contend with huge crowds fighting to board the trains—which occasionally stop running for days—while worrying about their kids, who are becoming increasingly distant. Yang is neglecting his studies, and Qin grows surly and rebellious, eventually leaving school to find work in the city herself—a decision that leads to a frightening confrontation when the girl talks back to her ordinarily retiring father. Last Train Home offers a moving portrait of a family torn apart by economic change, and a wrenching account of parents whose sacrifices for their offspring have unexpected results. DVD extras include three deleted scenes and a travelogue. Recommended. Aud: C, P. (F. Swietek)
Last Train Home
(2009) 87 min. In Mandarin & Sichuan w/English subtitles. DVD: $29.99. Zeitgeist Films (avail. from most distributors). Volume 26, Issue 3
Last Train Home
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