Review of Up the Yangtze (2007) by Federico P — 08 Apr 2008

I saw this film at a private screening with the director and producer in attendance. As a first feature-length documentary, I think this is definitely a success for Yung Chang, and I look forward to his future projects. In terms of content, the film presents a highly compelling look at a family that is being displaced by the Three Gorges Dam project and how they cope with the dramatic changes in their lives.

As a whole, I feel that the film is a success, but I would have liked to see a bit more scope about the project and other communities. While I understand why the director chose to follow this one family, I feel that the film could have been more compelling had we had a better idea of the government's compensation program, a bit more background about the scope and scale of the project, as well as a look at a few different families or communities. There are some scenes on the cruise ship in particular that don't really drive the message any further, and seem to act as filler. Nonetheless, I think this can be considered a highly interesting film about an important topic.