|
| Movie Review: Up the Yangtze Alternate Title: The Flood
of Progress
Story: Canadian filmmaker Yung
Chang lovingly chronicles the Three Gorges Dam
Project (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Three_Gorges_Dam) from a human
point of view. His documentary does not preach, predict or play the
blame game. He chooses rather to focus on two teenagers, one 19 and
one 16, who are employed on one of the many luxury ships that hold 'goodbye
cruises' on the Yangtze before the river floods to its height of 175
meters. They are saying goodbye to the China of old before modernity
overflows the banks. We witness the displacement of only one of the
2 million families that got in the way of China's progress. Eminent
domain is alive and well in this giant growing world power. We get to
peek into the intimate lives of some of the people who are being effected
by this enormous engineering feat. The two teenagers who work on the ship are groomed
in the ways of foreign tourist and there are some very humorous scenes
showing what they are not to speak about to us. They are given Western
names so the tourists will be able to call them something they are familiar
with. The film glides along the Yangtze as we watch people, places and
things sink beneath the river. For over three decades the Chinese government
dismissed warnings from scientists and environmentalists that the Three
Gorges Dam had the potential of becoming one of China's biggest environmental
nightmares. Last fall, denial gave way to acceptance that the alarmists
were right. Chinese officials staged an about-face, acknowledging for
the first time that the massive hydroelectric dam, sandwiched between
breathtaking cliffs on the Yangtze River in central China, may be triggering
landslides, water born disease, altering entire ecosystems and causing
other serious environmental problems—and, of course, endangering
the millions who live in its shadow. So much for progress. Check out the trailer here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oV3tQ7G2Ve4 Acting: It is a documentary. Not applicable.
Predilection: I like documentaries.
Critters: A kitten, puppies, dogs, chickens and ducks.
(None of the critters end up as the food category below).
Food: Chinese yummy looking dishes.
Sex Spectrum: No sex - the Chinese are very modest
people.
Theater Audience: A packed crowd at the IFC Waverly.
Weather: The air is so polluted it was hard to tell
what the weather was like.
Drift Factor: I was attentive throughout.
Predictability Level: High
Tissue Usage: 0
Oscar Worthy: No
Soap Box: Don't get me started on China's ecologically
disastrous political policies.
Big Screen or Rental: This would be a good rental.
Length: Under two hours.
LOBO HOWLS: 7 |