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Up the Yangtze
Zeitgeist Films

Up the Yangtze reviews
Critic Score
Metascore: 84 Metascore out of 100
User Score  
9.0 out of 10
based on 17 reviews
Read critic reviews
How did we calculate this?
based on 8 votes
Read user comments
Rate this movie

MPAA RATING: Not Rated

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

In China, it is simply known as 'The River.' But the Yangtze—and all of the life that surrounds it—is undergoing an astonishing transformation wrought by the largest hydroelectric project in history, the Three Gorges Dam. Chinese-Canadian director Yung Chang returns to the gorgeous, now-disappearing landscape of his grandfather’s youth to trace the surreal life of a “farewell cruise” that traverses the gargantuan waterway. With a humanist gaze and wry wit Chang’s Upstairs Downstairs approach captures the microcosmic society of the luxury liner. Below deck: a bewildered young girl trains as a dishwasher sent to work by her peasant family, who is on the verge of relocation from the encroaching floodwaters. Above deck: wealthy international tourists set sail to catch a last glance of a country in dramatic flux. The teenage employees who serve and entertain them—tagged with new Westernized names like “Cindy” and “Jerry” by upper management—warily grasp at the prospect of a better future. "Up the Yangtze" gives a human dimension to the wrenching changes facing not only an increasingly globalized China, but the world at large. (Zeitgeist Films)


GENRE(S): Documentary  
WRITTEN BY: Yung Chang  
DIRECTED BY: Yung Chang  
RELEASE DATE: Theatrical: April 25, 2008 
RUNNING TIME: 93 minutes, Color 
ORIGIN: Canada 
LANGUAGE(S): English / Mandarin 

What The Critics Said

All critic scores are converted to a 100-point scale. If a critic does not indicate a score, we assign a score based on the general impression given by the text of the review. Learn more...

100
Variety John Anderson
A gloriously cinematic documentay of epic, poetic sadness.
Read Full Review
100
The New York Times Stephen Holden
An astonishing documentary of culture clash and the erasure of history amid China’s economic miracle.
Read Full Review
100
Salon.com Andrew O'Hehir
Chang's images of the Yangtze and the new megacities replacing the villages on its banks are spectacular, and his cast of characters rival any fiction film I've seen recently.
Read Full Review
100
Entertainment Weekly Lisa Schwarzbaum
Filmmaker Yung Chang finds a sad and beautiful way to glimpse the big picture of dislocation through an exquisitely poised small study.
Read Full Review
100
Boston Globe Ty Burr
In his masterful and haunting documentary Up the Yangtze, Yung Chang shows the old China drowning helplessly under the weight of the new.
Read Full Review
100
San Francisco Chronicle G. Allen Johnson
Remarkable.
Read Full Review
88
The Globe and Mail (Toronto) Rick Groen
Before that marvel of human engineering - China's Three Gorges Dam - completes its legacy of human upheaval, there are vanishing sights to be seen.
Read Full Review
88
TV Guide Ken Fox
May be the best film to date about the humanitarian and environmental impact of China's enormous Three Gorges Dam project.
Read Full Review
80
Chicago Reader Andrea Gronvall
Trained in Sanford Meisner's acting techniques, the director wrests surprisingly emotional disclosures from his subjects.
Read Full Review
80
Los Angeles Times Kenneth Turan
One of the real pluses of Up the Yangtze, aside from its empathy with its subjects, is its striking visual quality. Beijing-based cinematographer Wang Shi Qing has an impeccable eye, often coming up with haunting images that show both the beauty and uncertainty of this pivotal time.
Read Full Review
80
Village Voice Scott Foundas
By journey's end, Yung has found, in the Yangtze, a brilliant natural metaphor for upward mobility in modern China: Whether they hail from the lowlands or the urban centers, everyone here is scrambling to reach higher ground.
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75
Miami Herald Rene Rodriguez
By focusing on his two young protagonists, Chang is able to explore the cultural differences between China and the rest of the world, resulting in sequences that are alternately humorous and eye-opening
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75
Baltimore Sun Michael Sragow
If, like me, you're both desperate to see new public-works systems in our own country and sensitive to the possible human and ecological damage, Up the Yangtze provides a devastating view of top-down, broad-stroke social programs.
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75
The Onion (A.V. Club) Tasha Robinson
Goes from sleepily hypnotic to riveting over the course of 90 minutes.
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70
Washington Post Michael O'Sullivan
The disparity between Cindy and Jerry is itself obscene, but less so than that illuminated by the customers of Farewell Cruises, whom Yung shows to be almost parasitic in the way they feed off the misery (albeit without knowing it) of those who serve them.
Read Full Review
67
Austin Chronicle Kimberley Jones
When the Three Gorges Dam on the Yangtze River began construction in the early Nineties, an estimated 2 million people's lives were impacted. That's a staggering number to contemplate, but Up the Yangtze effectively personalizes that near-meaningless number by putting a face on at least a few of those 2 million.
Read Full Review
63
New York Post V.A. Musetto
China's public image suffers another blow with Up the Yangtze, a documentary by Chinese-Canadian Yung Chang.
Read Full Review

What Our Users Said

Vote Now!The average user rating for this movie is 9.0 (out of 10) based on 8 User Votes
Note: User votes are NOT included in the Metascore calculation.

Dyna M. gave it a5:
Filmmaker doesn't have a steady balance of form or style. Unevenly audition different methods of filmmaking into one piece. Subject outweighs the film.

Peter L. gave it a9:
An amazing, intimate - and chilling - look at the changes that are wracking China ... and how they are affecting the lives of both young and old. Far from the bright lights of Shanghai, already-precarious existences are put at risk.

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