Thom-13
I recently have been watching a lot of Oscar-nominated documentaries. HBO Documentaries normally do a very excellent job. For this one, I was disappointed. The parents (who tragically lost their children in what was probably a corrupt system) largely come off as whiny in the documentary. I don't think this was the aim We hear the parents and the government officials (whom they translate in red, which I found very nice) speaking in their native language (which is what should happen in a documentary). As a non-Chinese speaker I was reading the subtitles. I think what hurt the power of this documentary to show the real tragedy of the parents was the subdued nature of the documentary commentary, which was only done in short comments white text on a black screen. There were enough of them, but something about them didn't draw me in to this film. I do hope the government (although suspect not) did eventually work toward the goals of these unfortunate parents.
Indie Friendlie
We here at Indie Friendlie really liked this film, even though it was difficult to watch at times.The film follows the tragic deaths of children as a result of an earthquake in China. The real tragedy is that many of these fatalities were preventable.The cultural and political forces which contributed to this injustice are fascinating, and sometimes mind-boggling to Westerners.You'll get a rare glimpse into some of the harsher realities of Chinese culture, as well as empathize with the universal suffering all adults experience when they've lost a child.A well-made film.
evening1
One spring day in 2008, the 21st-strongest earthquake in history shook Szechuan Province in China, turning schools to rubble while inexplicably leaving surrounding buildings unscathed.Local authorities told traumatized parents they had to dig their children out on their own, so thousands of school kids died under the fallen bricks. When tearful parents examined the scene, they noticed signs of substandard construction, such as mortar on the bricks that was powdery instead of solid, and they demanded explanations from officials.This is the story of the parents' rage at being stonewalled by politicians who may have allowed the shoddy construction, did nothing to save children who got trapped, refused to investigate, and then finally tried to buy the survivors' silence. There are heartrending interviews with parents who had adhered to China's one-child policy, only to have these singletons claimed in the disaster.Included here is what may be rare footage of peasants confronting local functionaries and of the functionaries spewing paternalistic admonitions to avoid giving bad impressions of China to "our foreign friends." One is left feeling sorry for poor people who are left with nothing -- no children, no rights, no voice.Reading about this earthquake on Wikipedia I learned that China offered $8,000 to each family as a settlement -- on the condition they wouldn't speak publicly about their qualms. What a sorry situation.
cbholbrooke98
I loved this documentary because it was so candid and honest. It revolves around the aftermath of the massive 2008 earthquake in China that took the lives of thousands of people, many of them young children who were in unsound school buildings during the time of the tremor. Pictures of the lost and deceased children float in the hands of their parents throughout the film, who can been seen crying in almost every shot. The devastation and frustration felt by these families are heartbreakingly evident. Many lost their only child due to the OCP. I especially loved the part where some people were arguing over whether criticizing the standards for building structure safety in China was criticizing Red China as a whole, something everyone defended. I would recommend this to everyone, TiVo it next time it's on HBO, so long as you have tissues with you.
AD
