Review: "Up the Yangtze"

In Yung Chang's haunting new doc, Up the Yangtze, we are transported not only to an old China that is quickly fading into the past, but a new China where progress threatens to overwhelm tradition.
The film centers around the construction of the Three Gorges Dam on the Yangtze River, which will turn the river into a lake in many areas, swallowing up entire towns and forcing the relocation of thousands of people.
Among these people is the family of Shui Yu, a 16 year old girl who dreams of going to university to become a scientist, but her poor, farming family barely has enough money to feed itself, let alone send her to college. So she goes to work on a cruise ship that sails the Yangtze River, taking mostly American tourists on what is called the "Farewell Tour," carrying its passengers up the Yangtze to see the historic sites and natural beauty that is soon to be swallowed up by the rising flood waters.

Chang's grandfather even says he no longer recognizes the China he once knew, the traditions being increasingly swallowed by the hungry river of technological progress.

Chang never exploits or pushes this at all, though. One of the film's great strengths is its ability to step back and observe. He lets the natural beauty and tragedy of the story speak for itself. The river has its own story to tell, and Chang knows how to listen to its ebb and flow, winding its way through the ages until running up against the cold gray concrete of progress. Up the Yangtze is a poignant reminder of the human, natural, and historical cost of technological advancement, where the price is not only tangible, but the very soul of a nation.
GRADE - ***½ (out of four)
UP THE YANGTZE; Directed by Yung Chang; Featuring Jerry Bo Yu Chen, Campbell Ping He, Cindy Shui Yu; Not Rated
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