Up the Yangtze (2007)

At the edge of the Yangtze River, not far from the Three Gorges Dam, young men and women take up employment on a cruise ship, where they confront rising waters and a radically changing China.

Director:

Yung Chang

Writer:

Yung Chang

Stars:

Jerry Bo Yu Chen, Campbell Ping He, Cindy Shui Yu

12 wins & 7 nominations.

Cast

Credited cast:
Jerry Bo Yu Chen	...	Himself
Campbell Ping He	...	Himself
Cindy Shui Yu	...	Herself

Storyline

A luxury cruise boat motors up the Yangtze - navigating the mythic waterway known in China simply as "The River." The Yangtze is about to be transformed by the biggest hydroelectric dam in history. At the river's edge - a young woman says goodbye to her family as the floodwaters rise towards their small homestead. The Three Gorges Dam - contested symbol of the Chinese economic miracle - provides the epic backdrop for Up the Yangtze, a dramatic feature documentary on life inside modern China.

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Plot Keywords:

china | three gorges dam | cruise ship | hydroelectric dam | modern china | 

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Taglines:

The river that erased her past will write her future

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Genres:

Documentary

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Details

Country:

Canada

Language:

English Mandarin

Release Date:

11 July 2008 (Poland)

Also Known As:

Anevainontas ton Yangtze

Filming Locations:

China

Box Office

Budget:

CAD 1,000,000 (estimated)

Opening Weekend:

$15,851 (USA) (25 April 2008)

Gross:

$783,416 (USA) (24 October 2008)

Company Credits

Production Co:

Eye Steel Film, National Film Board of Canada (NFB)

Technical Specs

Runtime:

93 min

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital

Color:

Color (35 mm version)

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Did You Know?

Quotes

Confucius: By three methods we may learn wisdom: First, by reflection, which is noblest; second, by imitation, which is easiest; and third, by experience, which is the bitterest.

User Reviews

Chinese cinematic masterpiece

This cinema masterpiece is experience of Chinese not westerner story. I hope you will go to take in this experience and learn more about middle kingdom. This movie is fair and shows piece of Chinese life. Do not miss this masterpiece. It made me laugh it made me cry. It made me think about my homeland.

this is from variety Asia online: "If the title "Up the Yangtze!" suggests "up a creek!," it's no coincidence. China's Three Gorges Dam is considered by many experts to be a full-steam-ahead eco-disaster, but helmer Yung Chang's gorgeous meditation is more concerned with the project's collateral human damage: old farmers evicted, young people in servitude to Western tourists, all brought about by an endeavor whose collective weight may ultimately tilt the Earth's axis. A gloriously cinematic doc of epic, poetic sadness, "Yangtze" should be a hit on the specialized circuit and could break out, thanks to its embrace of irony rather than righteous indignation."

i think this review is right. i'm very happy for this film and i think, as a Chinese, it is important to see all of the sides of our story. that way we can grow to learn to be better.