Economic miracle or environmental disaster, the Three Gorges Dam in China has been the source of considerable debate. This movie ignores all of that and explores the social implications of the project. From the peasant farmer who wants to understand electricity but doesn't to the brash young capitalist giddy with new money from free-spending western tourists, the film poignantly documents the upheaval that has been going on in China over the last decade. One has to wonder how much change China can handle. The twenty-first century has been called the Chinese century as the twentieth century was the American century. However, as I write this there is a global recession that has even slowed Chinese growth. Yet there is concern that change is coming too quickly for China anyway. As always, time will tell. In the meantime we have this film to remind us of what is at stake.
Review of Up the Yangtze
