The new documentary Up the Yangtze considers China's Three Gorges Dam project. (Zeitgeist)
The new documentary Up the Yangtze (opening June 20 at Landmark's Ken Cinema ) begins with a few words from Confucius about the three ways one can learn wisdom. The first way is by reflection, which is richest; the second is by imitation, which is easiest; and the third is by experience, which is bitterest. The wisdom of China's decision to go ahead with its Three Gorges Dam - the biggest hydroelectric dam in history and some say a project headed for eco-disaster -- is at the heart of Up the Yangtze. But Canadian filmmaker Yung Chang doesn't come at his subject from the obvious angle of environmental lecturing. Instead, he serves up a personal narrative that focuses on the very human cost of building the dam and flooding the equivalent of the Grand Canyon. (You can also listen to the KPBS Film discussion of teh film.)
