Up the Yangtze (2007)

User Rating:

7.6/10   

Director:

Yung Chang

Writer:

Yung Chang (writer)

Release Date:

30 September 2007 (Canada)

Genre:

Documentary

Tagline:

The river that erased her past will write her future

Plot:

At the edge of the Yangtze River, not far from the Three Gorges Dam, young men and women take up employment on a cruise ship, where they confront rising waters and a radically changing China.

Plot Keywords:

Three Gorges Dam | Cruise Ship | Yangtze River | Canada | Peasant

Awards:

10 wins & 3 nominations

US Showtimes:

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Cast

Jerry Bo Yu Chen	...	Himself
Campbell Ping He	...	Himself
Cindy Shui Yu	...	Herself

Also Known As:

Sur le Yangzi (Canada: French title)

Runtime:

93 min

Country:

Canada

Language:

English | Mandarin

Color:

Color | Color (35 mm version)

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital

Certification:

Australia:M

Filming Locations:

China

Company:

Eye Steel Film

Quotes:

Confucius: By three methods we may learn wisdom: First, by reflection, which is noblest; second, by imitation, which is easiest; and third, by experience, which is the bitterest.

A good documentary, though not a masterpiece

I finally watched this film during its third run at a local art-house cinema, having missed it on two previous occasions. I enjoyed the film, but at the same time felt it could have been done better. The knitting could have been tighter.

Ten years ago I took a boat trip up the Yangtze, starting from ChongQing. No, I was not on a 5-star cruiser depicted in this film. My boat was much more modest, and smaller. At night I could hear rats racing across the ceiling. But it was, nevertheless, an enjoyable trip. The water level was much lower at that time, so the cliff faces were higher and more impressive. What I once saw is now mostly submerged, as was chronicled in this film. Taking this trip 'Up the Yangtze' again on the big screen sure brought back fond memories.

Overall I find the focus on the demise of a poor family affected by the rising water level, and the activities surrounding large cruise ships catering to well-off visitors from around the world to be a good and relevant backdrop to this informative documentary. The acting and interviews were well conducted, with unforced ease and human sentiment. At the end, you draw your own conclusion who to sympathize with, whether you want to point fingers at the establishment, or just resign to the fact that progress toward modernization, in any country, comes with a price.

As the end credits rolled on the screen, a band played 'To traverse a big sea you need a good navigator', a song composed and forced into the ears of every Chinese national during the Culteral Revolution - in praise of Mao, the 'Navigator'. It was a great propaganda song but the band, using inappropriate instruments, made a mess of it and it sounded like white noise. I don't know why the director did not chose the far more superior 'choir' version, which would have been more becoming to close out a good documentary. This is just one example of how some fine-tuning and refinements could have brought this film one step closer to being a masterpiece.