VIFF: Up the Yangtze, no paddle
Megan Lau, The Peak
Up the
Yangtze
Director: Yung Chang
Canada, 2007
Maybe it was the sleep deprivation, or the three-hour lecture beforehand, but I left Up the Yangtze, feeling utterly shattered - entirely shaken to my core. The film is Montreal filmmaker Yung Chang's feature-length documentary, and a powerful one it is. As China moves into its place as the world's economic superpower, the country is rapidly transforming in all aspects: politically, culturally, and physically. One such change is the pending completion of the Three Gorges Dam on the Yangtze River, the world's largest hydroelectric project. Chang was inspired to make this film when he took a 'farewell' cruise, a final adios to the legendary waterway. The river is the main channel for his revelatory documentary, a filmic synecdoche for 21st-century China.
When finished, the Three Gorges Dam will displace an estimated two million people, including 16-year-old Yu Shui's family. As her parents and siblings face relocation, Shui is sent to work aboard one of the luxury 'farewell' cruise ships. Her co-worker Chen Bo Yu is an arrogant only child brought up in a middle-class family, bent on securing his fortune the 'American way.' The inevitable sadness, confusion, and frustration they face negotiating Western culture is strikingly moving.
There is one especially memorable scene: a relentless shot of Shui's father, a frail skeletal man, carrying a wardrobe up a nearly vertical stone façade. His panting is heard, and each step is flourished with unsteady undulation - you can feel tension for miles. The audience held their breath and winced at every step. It is this uncompromising dedication to immersing the viewer in the experience where Chang's success is best seen. In the glorious sweeping shots of the river, one can feel the magnificent size of the Yangtze, and also the changes that are yet to come.