bobt145 Jia Zhang-ke has given us a marvelous capsule of China rarely seen on film.His searching husband and wife cross paths looking for their respective mates after years at the only moments the story could have been told.Before the Three Gorges Dam, none of the metaphoric, yet very real destruction of the old towns would have been taking place and three months later they would all be under water.The cinematography allows us to slowly absorb the beauty of the spot on the Yangtze River where the dam is being constructed, while the stark lives of demolition workers play out in contrast.The new China is a runaway engine of modern economy and it is tossing countless lives aside with its speed.These aren't views shown in the films of the previous generation of Chinese directors. Made recently enough to have a direct connection to today, we see a country where cell phones bring the same changes to the people who use them as they have here. We hear and feel the influx of popular music in a land where traditional music is so beautiful.And most of all, we see how the people affected by the future flooding survive, bouncing sometimes numbly from home to shelter as they are evicted from locations with 2,000 years of history.This is a personal film for the director and that too says a lot about the strides the Chinese society has taken since the days of Chairman Mao and even Tiananmen Square.Ever since I figured out the plot line of "The Sixth Sense" after five minutes because of giveaways in the trailer, I have resisted them. If I'm in a theater, fine. But I don't go looking for them.DO NOT see the trailer before the film. Three of the very best and most surprising scene are given away in a short, 50-second promo.But do see the film. Very good.

Redcitykev Every so often a film comes along that, after having done the festival circuit, is laden with awards and praise, and quickly becomes a 'must see film'. 90% of the time it is easy to see just why that film won the awards, got all the praise etc, but once in a while such a film arrives that you watch and, after it has finished, you shrug your shoulders and think to yourself "yeh, so what!" Unfortunately I personally found this film one such case. I just could not fathom as to what the film was trying to say about contemporary China, the past or just about anything for that matter. A man arrives, finds his old village under water due to the Three Gorges Dam project, and he begins a fairly hopeless search for his wife and child. Meanwhile, following a strange object in the sky, another female is also searching for her husband, finds him and... well, just and! In amongst this are some very odd touches, like the aforementioned object in the sky, and a strange sculpture that suddenly lifts off like a rocket! Like, wow man! There are some nice touches - like when the bridge is lit up, and some of the photography is stunning, but overall I found that the film lacked any dramatic drive, the secondary character were all inter-changeable, and, for a film lasting just over 1 1/2 hours it felt so LONG! I know it is tantamount to filmatic treason to heavily criticise such a film, but to my mind this film was nothing short of the Emperior's New Clothes.

mavaron-liang SXHR is a demonstration of Jia's skills, from the construction of scenes, supporting sound effects. The reality is properly reflected but noise and distraction are also eliminated. What's more, he has a clear control over the whole thread. Though the plot is carried out in strict time order without many postmodern sequencing tricks, it feels comfortable and natural. Not big story but various interactions, conflicts and contracts can be seen in subtleties. This reminds me of the classic "Godfather".Many renowned Chinese directors have grown old and lost the passions seen in their early works. This is inevitable given their ages and change of living environments. Luckily the young generation has taken over. China is changing every second and that should be the ground for great movies.

crossbow0106 The Three Gorges Dam project in China, which will provide hydroelectric power but will cause the submersion of villages along the river bank, is the background of this film. Along with that, the film documents the stories of Sanming and Shen Hong, whose respective spouses have left them. Both are traveling to villages that are going to be submerged and are currently being demolished by unskilled labor, to find them. The cinematography in this film is excellent, illustrating the perpetually foggy conditions and the demolition work that is being done. The two people who star in this film play this so much like real life the movie seems almost like an intimate documentary. The story told in this film is one that is going on right now, mainly people being displaced from their homes and being sent elsewhere. The film is almost at a glacial pace, but that is necessary. I was more interested in Shen Hong's story until Sanming's story was resolved. This film has some sadness attached to it, you do feel for these displaced people. This film is not for everyone due to its slow pacing, but its an important film about the Three Gorges Dam project, how it affects the people impacted directly. Not all progress is good for everyone.