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A Yangtze Landscape

Name: A Yangtze Landscape
Director: Xu Xin
Released: 2017
Duration: 156 min

Representation Score

3.9/10

Limited

2017

Director

Xu Xin

Runtime

156 minutes

Average Rating

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New Showbiz Analysis

A Yangtze Landscape is a contemplative, non-narrative documentary that emphasizes environmental changes over human drama. Using a slow-cinema style, it avoids the usual progress narratives of industrialization, presenting humanity as part of the natural world. The film stands out by rejecting Western-centric cinematic conventions, focusing on the specifics of the Yangtze region and its local inhabitants. However, treating people as decorative figures leads to a lack of explicit identity-based representation, particularly around LGBTQ+ identities and disabilities.

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Category Breakdown

Does A Yangtze Landscape have LGBTQ+ representation?

Minimal

The film focuses more on the landscape and environment rather than character development. There are no clear examples of LGBTQ+ characters or explorations of non-straight identities.

How does A Yangtze Landscape portray gender?

Fair

People in the film are portrayed as decorative elements, similar to traditional Chinese landscape paintings. This approach minimizes gender hierarchies but also limits the depth of individual stories due to the lack of focused character arcs.

How racially and ethnically diverse is A Yangtze Landscape?

Excellent

The film centers on the Chinese landscape and its inhabitants, offering a genuine, non-Western perspective by featuring local workers and residents.

How does A Yangtze Landscape represent religion and culture?

Good

The film critiques modern economic growth and the environmental damage caused by industrialization. Its unconventional pacing breaks away from typical Western documentary styles to emphasize a subjective, atmospheric truth.

Does A Yangtze Landscape include disability representation?

Minimal

The film's emphasis on landscape and decorative figures means there is no specific depiction of physical or cognitive disabilities.

Present on Screen

Offers a localized, non-Western perspective of the Yangtze region.
Authentically represents the local demographics through the inclusion of workers.
Criticizes the environmental impact of industrialization and modern economic growth.

Limited or Absent

Does not explicitly represent or explore LGBTQ+ identities.
Does not depict physical or cognitive disabilities.
Minimizes individual ability to act, limiting deeper character-driven social exploration.

Official Synopsis

A Yangtze Landscape utilizes a non-narrative style, setting off from the Yangtze's marine port Shanghai, filming all the way to the Yangtze River's source, Qinghai/Tibet - filming a total distance of thousands of kilometers. Experimental music and noise recorded live on scene are used in post-production, painstakingly paired with relatively independent visuals, creating a magically realistic atmosphere contrasted with people seeming to be 'decorative figures' right out of traditional Chinese landscape scrolls.

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