2008 Program guide - Victoria Film Festival

UP THE YANGTZE NEVER APOLOGIZE
DIRECTOR: YUANG CHANG
CANADA
2007 93 MINUTES 35MM
PRODUCERS: MILA AUNG-THWIN, GERMAINE YING GEE WONG,
JOHN CHRISTOU
Sun Yat-sen, the father of modern China, fi rst proposed a
hydroelectric plant at the Three Gorges in 1919; in the 1950’s, after
devastating fl oods, Mao Zedong revived the idea for the dam, now
1.5 miles wide and more than 600 feet high. Critics have alleged that
corruption has led to potentially lethal construction shortcuts and
that insuffi cient care has been taken in fl ooding nearly 400 square
miles, some of which contained old factories and accumulated toxic
chemicals. During the course of the fi lming, the river encroaches on
more land and more lives.
The latter include 16-year-old Yu Shui, whose parents are
hard-scrabble peasants neither able nor willing to continue her
education. Instead, she is sent to work on one of the luxury tourist
boats working the Yangtze, carrying Western tourists on so-called
“farewell tours” of the soon-to-be-submerged countryside. It’s pure
culture shock: Yu Shui is thrown into an unfamiliar mix of corporate
work ethic, middle-class customers and a managerial attitude that
immediately gives all employees English names – Yu Shui becomes
“Cindy”; her co-worker Chen Bo Yu is “Jerry”.
Chinese-Canadian fi lmmaker Yung Chang directs it all with insight
and cinematic fl air, embracing irony rather than righteous indignation.
Drawing inspiration from contemporary Asian cinema and post-war
neo-realism, he crafts a compassionate account of peasant life and a
powerful documentary narrative of contemporary China.
DIRECTOR: MIKE KAPLAN
USA
2007 111 MINUTES DIGIBETA
PRODUCERS: MIKE KAPLAN, MALCOLM MCDOWELL
BC Premiere
Never Apologize, Malcolm McDowell’s celebration of Lindsay
Anderson, is a unique hybrid of fi lm, theatre and literature.
Anderson, the award-winning director, critic, essayist and anarchist,
cast McDowell in his fi rst starring role as the rebellious Mick Travis,
in his fi lm, IF...., winner of the Palme D’Or, Cannes (1968). Their
working relationship continued through fi ve additional fi lm and theatre
productions spanning several decades.
Drawing equally on his own recollections and on Anderson’s superbly
written materials McDowell conveys a sense of life with a man who was at
once irascible and caring, deeply intelligent and outrageously stubborn.
McDowell summons a ghostly host of the famed and forgotten to
life by simple shifts of accent and body posture, he conjures vanished
notables like John Gielgud, Alan Bates, Richard Harris and even Bette
Davis, all of whom are depicted with wryness and warmth. Doomed
and suicidal actress Rachel Roberts, a key fi gure in Anderson’s circle but
largely overlooked today, is lingered over by McDowell with a gentle but
palpable sense of loss. Over everything, Anderson’s speeter broods, an
uncompromising artist willing to lose friendships over his unwavering
commitment to keeping art “epic” by avoiding all things “bourgeois.”
Malcom McDowell and director Mike Kaplan pull off a very surprising
coup: a fi lm that engages for every minute. McDowell’s performance
remains captivating and Anderson’s life a genuine fascination.
Sunday • February 3 • Capitol 6 - 6 • 9:00 PM
Saturday • February 2 • Odeon • 9:30PM
Sunday • February 3 • Capitol 6 - 1 • 12:15 PM 41
DOCUMENTARY