By Yung Chang’s Up The Yangtze, released in 2008, was an amazing and deeply troubling look at the debilitating effects of consumer-based capitalism on China’s lower class. Last Train Home, directed by one of the producers of that film, is a companion piece that may be even more effective. It’s a film that I’d recommend to anyone and everyone, and it’s definitely among my favorite of the year.
Last Train Home is a documentary about Chinese migrant workers, and the annual pilgrimage that sees about 130 million of them simultaneously trying to get home to their families. Those looking for an in-depth assessment of the politics behind the exploitation of Chinese laborers might want to look elsewhere (No Logo by Naomi Klein isn’t a bad place to start), as this film focuses primarily on telling the personal story of one family. And what a story it is.
Yung Chang's Up The Yangtze, released in 2008, was an amazing and deeply troubling look at the debilitating effects of consumer-based capitalism on China's lower class. Last Train Home, directed by one of the producers of that film, is a companion piece that may be even more effective. It's a film that I'd recommend to anyone and everyone, and it's definitely among my favorite of the year.
Last Train Home is a documentary about Chinese migrant workers, and the annual pilgrimage that sees about 130 million of them simultaneously trying to get home to their families. Those looking for an in-depth assessment of the politics behind the exploitation of Chinese laborers might want to look elsewhere (No Logo by Naomi Klein isn't a bad place to start), as this film focuses primarily on telling the personal story of one family. And what a story it is. {{page_break}}
Husband and wife Changua Zhang and Suqin Chen are the central figures in this film, parents who left their rural home in hopes that factory work would allow their children a better life. It becomes increasingly clear that things haven't gone as they'd hoped, with their children extremely resentful about their absence. Their failure is the failure of the country as a whole — Changua and Zhang really did have no other option to support their children, resulting in a lifestyle where this sort of fractured familial relationship is inevitable.
The personal is universal, and this seemingly small story about a family says volumes about the state of the country (and by extension, the US and the world). However, to me this is primarily a story about two parents coming to terms with not only the unfulfilled promise they based their life on, but the permanent damage their physical and emotional distance has caused to their relationship with their daughter.
The scenes of the migration are harrowing, which makes the parents' disappointment and frustration all the more pointed. After suffering through days of crowded, miserable traveling, they return to a home bubbling with resentment and strife. As the film goes on and the tension builds, everything culminates in a jaw-dropping, heartbreaking conflict that left me short of breath.
Last Train Home is shot in a narrativized documentary style previously seen in films like the aforementioned Up the Yangtze and Iraq in Fragments. This technique causes a complex relationship between the viewer, the film, and its subjects that can occasionally be distracting. By removing the point of view that most documentaries provide, we are left to imagine the filmmakers' place in the proceedings, something that is deliberately not touched upon. I found this tactic refreshing, and feel that the absence of a documentarian “character” makes the storytelling that much more direct. Some viewers, though, will certainly find that the film adds a layer of artificiality by attempting to remove one.
This is not to say that the film necessarily shies away from acknowledging its construction. There are a number of instances where subjects address the camera directly, or a boom is left in a shot, and these do nothing but add to the experience. I'm not exactly sure if this qualifies as “breaking the 4th wall” in a documentary, but the effect is certainly the same. These often result in the most powerful moments in a film filled with them.
Anyway, go see Last Train Home. It's really, really good. Try and see it in a theater, too, if you can.
Overall Score: 8.00 – Great. (Movies that score between 8.00 and 8.50 are great representations of their genre that everyone should see in theaters on opening night.)
Last Train Home is a deeply affecting documentary filled with moments that will haunt you long after you've left the theater.
Glenn Morris:
Overall Score: 6.90 — Director Lixin Fan provides too much misdirection and too little balance, perhaps due to a lack of vision rather than personal bias. He has made an important documentary with Last Train Home, but I will be surprised if he accomplishes another soon. Read his full review here!