| Up the Yangtze (Subtitled) | 
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Avg. Customer Rating:   (based on 1 reviews)
Sales Rank: 3381
Category: DVD
Actors: Cindy Shui Yu, Jerry Bo Yu Chen
Director: Yung Chang
Publisher: Zeitgeist Films
Studio: Zeitgeist Films
Manufacturer: Zeitgeist Films
Label: Zeitgeist Films
Format: Anamorphic, Color, Dvd-video, Ntsc, Subtitled, Widescreen
Languages: English (Subtitled), English (Original Language)
Rating: NR (Not Rated)
Media: DVD
Running Time: 93 minutes
Number Of Items: 1
Aspect Ratio: 1.85:1
Shipping Weight (lbs): 0.2
Dimensions (in): 7.1 x 5.4 x 0.6
UPC: 795975110839
EAN: 0795975110839
ASIN: B001CCY42U
Release Date: November 18, 2008
Theatrical Release Date: 2007
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
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Product Description
In China, it is simply known as "The River." But the Yangtze--and all of the life that surrounds it--is undergoing a truly astonishing transformation wrought by the largest hydroelectric project in history, the Three Gorges Dam. Canadian documentary filmmaker Yung Chang returns to the gorgeous, now-disappearing landscape of his grandfather's youth to trace the surreal life of a "farewell cruise" that traverses the gargantuan waterway.
With Altmanesque narrative agility, a humanist gaze and wry wit, Chang's Upstairs Downstairs approach beautifully captures the microcosmic society of the luxury liner. Below deck: A bewildered young girl trains as a dishwasher--sent to work by her peasant family, who is on the verge of relocation from the encroaching floodwaters. Above deck: A phalanx of wealthy international tourists set sail to catch a last glance of a country in dramatic flux. The teenaged employees who serve and entertain them--now tagged with new Westernized names like "Cindy" and "Jerry" by upper management--warily grasp at the prospect of a more prosperous future.
Singularly moving and cinematically breathtaking, Up the Yangtze gives a human dimension to the wrenching changes facing not only an increasingly globalized China, but the world at large.
SPECIAL FEATURES:
- New anamorphic master, created from Hi-Def elements and enhanced for widescreen TVs
- Twelve deleted scenes
- Time-lapse flooding footage of the Yangtze River
- 2006 Research Demo Reel
- Optional English subtitles for the deaf and hearing impaired
- Optional Traditional Mandarin subtitles
- Stereo and Dolby Digital 5.1 soundtracks
Amazon.com
After taking a "farewell cruise" up the Yangzte, Yung Chang returned to document the experience before time ran out. What the Chinese-Canadian filmmaker saw in 2002 will disappear in subsequent years as the rising waters of the Three Gorges Dam submerge the villages along the riverbanks. Chang takes a two-pronged approach in shadowing a pair of luxury liner workers, petite 16-year-old Yu Shui (renamed Cindy) and rangy 19-year-old Chen Bo Yu (Jerry), concentrating most of his attentions on the former. While the shy Yu Shui caters to the needs of well-heeled Westerners in order to assist her poverty-stricken family, her relations make plans to leave Fengdu before the Yangtze swoops in (the outspoken Chen Bo Yu hails from the similarly threatened Kai Xian). As the landscape around them turns into a second Atlantis, the teenagers change, as well, in ways both positive and negative. To survive in modern-day China, it appears, Westernization is inevitable, which Chang (third-generation Canadian) neither celebrates nor condemns. Instead, he questions the ways in which economic progress erodes--sometimes even destroys--personal and cultural values. In the illuminating booklet interview that accompanies the DVD, Chang admits he was inspired by the large-scale Three Gorges photography of fellow Canadian Edward Burtynsky, which makes the more intimate Up the Yangtze an ideal companion piece to the Burtynsky-oriented Manufactured Landscapes--and a terrific feature in its own right. Further extras include time-lapse river footage, a 2006 demo reel, and substantial deleted scenes, which play almost like short films. --Kathleen C. Fennessy
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| Customer Reviews:
A Powerful Documentary about the Personal Cost of Cultural Change November 13, 2008
5 out of 5 found this review helpful
"Yangtze" could be described as the mirror reverse of many popular dramatic stories in which a hero is searching the world to rediscover or rebuild a home. Set in China as the massive Three Gorges Dam was completed, this haunting documentary is the story of a teen-age girl, Yu Shui, who has a warm and loving home -- but winds up homeless in the rapidly shifting landscape of modern China.
The documentary comes to DVD, via Zeitgeist Films, with an impressive pedigree. The PBS network aired it nationally. Various regional film festivals bestowed honors. Critics love the film.
It's an amazing piece of documentary filmmaking, because we see footage shot by candlelight in Yu Shui's tiny ramshackle farmhouse along the Yangtze River. Her parents know that the level of the Yangtze is about to rise dramatically, when the enormous dam is completed. They know that their tiny farm will be washed away. Meanwhile, Yu Shui is contemplating her own dreams of training for a profession.
Over a meager family dinner of noodles one evening, she dares to tell her parents that she hopes to continue her education because she knows that China needs "talented, educated" young people. She's hoping to become a professional and wants to help shape the world's future, she explains.
But her parents are illiterate. Their family situation is dire. They tell her that her plans must be put on hold.
Instead, Yu Shui is signed onto one of the luxury cruise ships that now carry tourists down the ever-widening Yangtze River. She is renamed Cindy, given a uniform and a small bunk on a lower deck of the big ship and sent into the kitchen to wash dishes. Eventually, she is taught how to interact with American guests and is allowed to help serve food in the dining room.
She longs to return home and, on a couple of occasions, she manages to return to the tiny family farm for emotional reunions. But the Three Gorges Dam, an enormous power plant, is nearing completion. We see signs popping up throughout the film of the looming floods that will vastly increase the depth and width of the river.
The documentary would be unbearable to watch if Cindy's new managers on the cruise ship were evil task masters. They aren't. In fact, they're compassionate adults, trying to make their own future in China's rapidly changing culture.
I won't spoil the end of the film by describing exactly what transpires -- but you won't forget the final scenes.
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