The Three Gorges Dam on the Yangtze River—at some 600 ft. high and a mile and a half wide, the largest hydroelectric undertaking in history—has been called China's greatest engineering feat since the Great Wall. But the human toll is staggering, since it will displace some two million people along the riverfront. Yung Chang's excellent documentary explores in general the rapid modernization represented by the dam, while focusing specifically on two young people who work on a ship that takes passengers (mainly foreign tourists) on “farewell cruises” up the Yangtze. A shy, unhappy 16-year-old named Yu Shui (but rechristened Cindy by her boss) becomes a dishwasher below deck, while her parents—poor peasants who will lose their home to the flooding—prepare to carry their meager belongings to higher ground and wonder how they will survive. Meanwhile, confident, outgoing attendant Chen Bo Yu (renamed Jerry) serves as a symbol of the pampered “little emperors” resulting from the country's one-child policy, but in the end his drive proves too aggressive for the company. Up the Yangtze skillfully employs the dam as an embodiment of the radical transformation of Chinese society, while also raising the question of whether it truly represents “progress” in human terms. Highly recommended. [Note: DVD extras include 12 deleted scenes (most offering further glimpses into the private lives of the main subjects), a time-lapse featurette of the rising waters, and a featurette about the forced relocation of the inhabitants of Zhaojia, a thousand-year old village that will be swallowed in the flooding. Bottom line: a fine extras package for a fine doc.] (F. Swietek)
Up the Yangtze
Zeitgeist, 93 min., in English, Mandarin & Sichuan w/English subtitles, not rated, DVD: $29.99 Volume 24, Issue 1
Up the Yangtze
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