Before the Flood (2005) [N/A]
Directed by:
Yifan Li, Yu Yan
Release Date:
February 16, 2005
Original Title:
淹没
Genres:
Documentary
Production Countries:
China
Ratings / Certifications:
N/A
Runtime: 150
Before the Flood is a study of the final weeks of a dying city, as thousand-year-old Fengjie on the Yangtze River is reduced to rubble and its inhabitants uprooted to make way for the new Three Gorges Dam that will flood the entire valley.
The dam of Three Gorges, the largest dam that humans have ever built on earth, is under construction in China. The water-reserving began in 2003, and is expected to be completed in 2009. Until then, hundreds of counties, thousands of towns, and millions of local residents, including countless natural and historic spots along the area of Three Gorges, will be under the water level of the reservoir, including Fengjie, the town which became famous because of Li Bai, one of the most significant poets in the Chinese history. This film is a genuine overall record of the relocation of Fengjie town in 2002, just before the first water-reserving. An old man, who used to make a living out of a small inn for the cargo-movers in the front, was losing all of his assets. The priests of one local Christian church found it difficult to keep their faiths while bargaining for the breakdown of their church. Many life stories happened there, not without struggles and tears.
