The Power of the Party from Boston Review. Founded a century ago, the Chinese Communist Party has repeatedly defied predictions of its demise. Today it retains popular support by selectively repressing and responding to social demands.
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A village in southern China becomes a hotbed of democratic reform with complicated aftereffects in Jill Li’s epic political documentary “Lost Course,” a remarkable feat of embedded journalism for a first-time feature filmmaker. Filmed over several years in which hope-buoyed protesters wrestle with the consequences of hard-won change, this two-part, three-hour film is marked by immediacy and breadth, as if an on-the-fly news bulletin had naturally morphed into the richest of character-driven sagas.
For years, strapped villagers in the small fishing port of Wukan in China’s Guangdong province had watched their communal lands be sold off to developers by corrupt officials, until things erupted in September 2011 with a grass-roots town takeover and general strike that grabbed the world’s attention. Li, based in Hong Kong at the time, went there with a camera to capture the sweep of the land-grab protests road closures, marches, bullhorn speeches, entire families i
Lost Course Review: When a Village Fights Back - The New York Times nytimes.com - get the latest breaking news, showbiz & celebrity photos, sport news & rumours, viral videos and top stories from nytimes.com Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday newspapers.
Philippe Lacote begins his spellbinding fable with the scenic aerial vista of a Jeep making its way through a verdant landscape to a large, imposing building. The young punk in handcuffs accompanied by armed soldiers can’t admire the view or appreciate the sweet air; he’s too anxious about his destination at the end of the rutted road.
The lad arrives at the dank Ivory Coast prison at an auspicious time, as the inmate who runs the place subject to the arbitrary rule of the brutish authorities, of course is nearing the end of his reign. He christens the newcomer Roman and appoints him storyteller for the evening, which the lad (played by Bakary Koné) prolongs to dawn via a procession of centuries-spanning chapters drawn from the seemingly disparate realms of folk tales and slum reality.