Film Review - "Up the Yangtze"

by Platypus

As the Summer Olympics begin in Beijing this weekend, the world's spotlight focuses on China, a nation that is steeped in plenty of history, intrigue, and controversy. Today, China faces a quandary of opposites: reconciling its incredible growth as economic, political, and technological superpower with issues such as preserving its heritage, human rights, and the utter poverty that most of its citizens still endure. The Three Gorges Dam project along the Yangtze river is a case study of this clash. As the world's largest hydroelectric generating plant, it has long been championed by the Chinese government as a backbone for China's progress, yet has also become a lightning rod for debate due to its potential environmental effects and the displacement of millions of people who live along the Yangtze's banks, amongst other concerns.

Chinese-Canadian director Yung Chang's new documentary, Up the Yangtze, attempts to put a human face on this controversy. It loosely follows the story of Yu Shui, a girl from a poor farming family who will soon be displaced from their patch of land along the Yangtze. Unable to afford her high school tuition, Yu's family sends her to work on one of the many Western-oriented cruise boats that sail the mighty river. As we follow Yu on her journey, we are also taken on a journey of the Yangtze and its many contrasts. Ostentatious glitz and Western affluence clash with the stark poverty of most locals. The protests of displaced laborers coincide with the nervous attempts of tour operators and government officials to convince Westerners that nothing is wrong. The beauty of the gorges collides head-on with the monstrous presence of cranes and skyscrapers that are quickly flooding its banks in more ways than one.

Despite the fact that this is a documentary, Yung Chang's narration is sparse and unobtrusive, leaving the viewer to sit with his own musings and develop his own opinions of this complex issue. The cinematography is simply stunning, capturing the many sides of the river and its inhabitants in rich detail. Watching this film may provoke the thought: what is progress?, and, if this is progress, then do its costs negate that? No doubt, these are questions that will continue to be asked of China as it hurtles headlong into the 21st century. As the Chinese nation speeds onward, Up the Yangtze may provide you with a glimpse of China you've never seen - or may never see again.