Up the Yangtze

Synopsis: The Three Gorges Dam, the largest engineering project since the Great Wall and hotly contested symbol of the Chinese economic miracle, provides the epic and unsettling backdrop for UP THE YANGTZE, a dramatic and disquieting feature documentary on life inside the 21st century Chinese dream. Among the two million losing their livelihood to the dam are the Yu family who must now send their daughter off to work. In a bitter irony she’s been hired into a strange apocalyptic tourist trade that thrives along the river, offering a glimpse of a legendary world before it disappears forever.The documentary juxtaposes the poignant and sharply observed details of Yu Shui’s story against the monumental and ominous forces at work all around her. Where Western passengers take in the spectral views, consuming entertainment on the spacious upper decks, while Yu Shui toils in the galley down below, vying with workmates for the few permanent positions.
Language: English
Country: Canada
Year of release: 2008
Availability: out of distribution
Subjects: Geography
Keywords: China; dams; social geography

This record has been viewed 468 times.