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How Yukong Moved the Mountains

Name: How Yukong Moved the Mountains
Director: Joris Ivens, Marceline Loridan-Ivens
Released: 1976
Duration: 763 min

Representation Score

5.9/10

Fair

1976

Director

Joris Ivens, Marceline Loridan-Ivens

Runtime

763 minutes

Average Rating

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New Showbiz Analysis

How Yukong Moved the Mountains serves as a significant piece of decolonial media. It excels in subverting Western cultural and gender norms by presenting a highly organized, collectivist social structure as an empowered reality. The film's strength lies in its intentionality to deconstruct Western-centric perspectives. While the documentary lacks specific LGBTQ+ or disability-focused narratives, it provides a robust exploration of non-Western social realities. It effectively centers the lived experiences of the Chinese working class through a progressive lens. The film's high scores in gender and cultural representation reflect a narrative that actively seeks to dismantle traditional hierarchies of capitalism and patriarchy.

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Category Breakdown

Does How Yukong Moved the Mountains have LGBTQ+ representation?

Minimal

The documentary focuses on the collective mobilization of the Chinese proletariat. There is no discernible evidence of non-straight gender identities or same-sex relationships depicted within the footage.

How does How Yukong Moved the Mountains portray gender?

Good

The film disrupts traditional hierarchies by centering women's ability to drive the story. It portrays women as active, actively leading participants in massive infrastructural and social projects.

How racially and ethnically diverse is How Yukong Moved the Mountains?

Excellent

Captured on-site in China, the film presents a non-Western, non-Anglo-Saxon majority cast. It provides an unmediated look at the Chinese populace, challenging Western-centric media dominance.

How does How Yukong Moved the Mountains represent religion and culture?

Excellent

The narrative aligns with anti-capitalist and collectivist frameworks. It portrays the Chinese model of social organization as a viable alternative to Western capitalist institutions.

Does How Yukong Moved the Mountains include disability representation?

Minimal

There is insufficient evidence to determine if neurodivergence or specific physical disabilities are addressed as central character arcs or ability to act-driven roles.

Present on Screen

Subverts traditional gender hierarchies by centering women's ability to drive the story.
Challenges Western-centric media hegemony by focusing on a non-Western majority cast.
Provides a powerful critique of capitalist structures through a collectivist lens.

Limited or Absent

Lacks representation of non-straight gender identities or same-sex relationships.
Provides no discernible focus on neurodivergence or specific physical disabilities.

Official Synopsis

From 1972 until 1974, Joris Ivens and Marceline Loridan, along with a Chinese film crew, documented the last days of the Cultural Revolution, marking the end of an era. The vast amount of footage they shot was edited into 14 films of varying lengths. Focusing on ordinary people spread over a wide geographic area—many of whom were living and working in collectives—the filmmakers recorded a unique moment in history, and also captured some of the more enduring aspects of Chinese culture.

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