Up the Yangtze

"Rarely do we get to see the real lives of rural Chinese up close. The country's PR machine – as seen in frantic action during the Olympics – mostly ensures that if anything we get the edited 'highlights' of what life is like in the farming communities and suburbs. But in this compelling documentary we get to peek behind the scenes – with the vast Three Gorges Dam hydroelectric project as the backdrop – and it's by turns fascinating and heartbreaking."

"A gloriously cinematic documentay of epic, poetic sadness."

"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."

"An astonishing documentary of culture clash and the erasure of history amid China’s economic miracle."

"Remarkable."

"In the shadow of one of China’s greatest triumphs, it is enduring humanity – both of the filmmaker, and the family who came to call him ‘big brother’ – that outclasses it."

"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."

"This fascinating documentary uses the vast Three Gorges Dam project as an emblem of how China is changing, and brings it all home with a perceptive eye for the emotional and human fault lines of this seismic shift."