UP THE YANGTZE
Directed by Yung Chang. Opens Fri, Mar 21.
3 1/2 Stars
Minutes into Yung Chang’s documentary Up the Yangtze, the narrator reminds us of Chairman Mao’s infamous words regarding the Yangtze River’s Three Gorges Dam: “The mountain goddess, if she is still there, will marvel at a world so changed.”
I cannot say whether anyone could have foreseen that the dam would displace two million people from their homes while private cruise lines capitalize on the disappearing natural beauty of the riverbank, but from this subtle and well-planned turn of phrase, Chang’s documentary skillfully revives a decades-old conflict between old-world tradition and modernity.
It’s fitting, then, that Chang documents the impact of the rising tide through young eyes, those of 14-year-old Yu Shui and 19-year-old Chen Bo Yu, who both opt to become cruise ship crew members. Yu Shui lives on the side of the river where people are living in the most quintessential form of poverty: her family is scrambling to harvest what little they have to make money before the rising water subsumes their small, decrepit home. Yu Shui goes aboard the cruise line with the aim of saving enough money to attend high school and support her family
Meanwhile, Chen Bo Yu—the single child of a moderately wealthy family on the other side of the river who spends his nights drinking Absolut vodka and reeling off karaoke tunes with friends—is in it simply for the thrill of the American dollar.
Yet somehow the cruise ship becomes an equalizer between the worker and the weekender; Yu Shui and Chen Bo Yu are given American names (“Cindy” and “Jerry”), and told never to discuss or comment on issues political, social, or otherwise, and to give due attention to modesty and humility.
There’s something morosely funny in the sight of the cruise ship patrons shuffling awkwardly into traditional Chinese dress or taking in the gorgeous view of the bank of the Yangtze from behind elliptical trainers; even the cringe-worthy crooning of a dusty old cruise ship singer is almost too ridiculous to believe: “It’s so easy, to speak Chinesey”... ugh.
To some extent, Chang goes a little too far in his attempt to be unobtrusive; we’re told that China is caught between the values of tradition and the necessity of modernization, but we’re given little more than a few shots of fatback American tourists to prove it. But the film makes up for its shortcomings in one fell swoop of sincerity: in one of the last of the villages to be relocated, a business owner tearfully admits, “It’s hard being a human, but being a common person in China is even more difficult; China is too hard for common people.” It’s as if Chang has found a way to say, “This joke isn’t funny anymore” without actually saying it.
But the audience will be hard-pressed to find anything remotely funny about Jerry being verbally berated by his supervisors for “overconfidence” or the harrowingly chilly conviction of a tour guide who lies through his teeth about the plight of the people on the riverbank: “They are all happy!”
Like China herself, Up the Yangtze takes its time—perhaps too much time—laughing off the doldrums of political collusion and an uncertain cultural future to get to the stark reality of things as they are. But when it does, the results are deeply affecting, and well worth your undivided attention.
