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Young & Restless In China (2008)
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Reviews Counted:12
Fresh:8
Rotten:4
Average Rating:6.4/10
Theatrical Release:Apr 11, 2008 Limited
Synopsis:
Starting in 2004 Ambrica began filming nine Chinese Gen X’ers at home and at work, returning once a year to record the changes in their lives. The film tracks four wildly ambitious graduates, a...
Starting in 2004 Ambrica began filming nine Chinese Gen X’ers at home and at work, returning once a year to record the changes in their lives. The film tracks four wildly ambitious graduates, a media savvy hip hop artist, two migrant workers living precariously on society’s edge, a dedicated medical resident and a courageous environmental activist.
What happens along the way is surprising: some find themselves torn between traditional culture and tantalizing new opportunities; several begin the heady ride to wealth and power. Some find love and resolve family conflicts, and others seem likely to crash and burn along the way.
Young and Restless In China is buoyed by a driving sound track of Chinese rock and hip hop music and scenes of Chinese life rarely seen in the West. As we watch these young people work, hang out with family and friends, sing karaoke or launch their first business, we come to know them in a rare, intimate way. Their stories of ambition, exuberance, crime and corruption are interwoven with moments of love, heartbreak and passion. In riveting emotional detail, Young and Restless In China captures the highs and lows of coming of age that are at times intimately familiar and also decidedly new. --© Official Site
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Director: Sue Williams
Director: Sue Williams
Producer: Sue Williams, Kathryn Dietz
Studio: Ambrica
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Release:
Jul 29, 2008
Reviews for Young & Restless In China
Williams's multi-thread portrait is fascinating only as a scattershot, time-capsule sampling of those whose lives were defined by the Tiananmen Square protests.
Williams succumbs to one of the most odious habits of the documentary filmmaker by having Western voices translate the words of her talking heads.
Nuanced and emotionally bittersweet%u2014not nearly as propagandistic (in either direction) as some might expect.
At its best, Young & Restless in China plays like a prosaic complement to the films of Jia Zhangke.
We see a lot of ambition and cell phone connectivity, but little style or drama to set this apart as a superior documentary
Examines how the generation of Chinese recently come of age has adjusted to the country's embrace of capitalism and the ensuing rush to rapid modernization.
Eye-opening study of how China's turbo-charged capitalism leaves something to be desired, especially for the young.
A real-life soap opera you can feel sophisticated for watching -- after all, it's really about globalization, even if broken hearts and family dysfunction occupy center stage.
Almost everything experienced by the nine, who appear to be in their 20s and 30s, is garden-variety living and learning.
Young & Restless In China is the first of a planned five-part series that will follow nine diverse Chinese citizens over the course of 20 years.
Somewhat schematic in its dual professional/personal focus, pic successfully demonstrates the stages of social development through the private dramas of its individual subjects.
[Director Sue] Williams should have used subtitles, rather than Western voices, to translate the words of her talking heads. Still, her film is a timely look at the massive changes overtaking China.
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