Bermuda Docs: Last Train Home ****

Here our on-staff movie buff Leanne McGrath reviews one of them.

Director: Lixin Fan
Showing: Sunday 7pm, Tradewinds Auditorium at BUEI
Runtime: 85 minutes
Country: China

Every Chinese New Year, the world’s largest human migration takes place when the country’s 130 million migrant workers return to their rural homes to visit their families.

This documentary tells their story through the eyes of one family, the Zhangs, and paints a vivid and disturbing picture of the effects of the industrial revolution on the population’s rural heritage.

Stark and emotional, it shows the human cost of China’s rise as an economic power.

These peasants work endless hours in city factories, doing the dirtiest, most difficult jobs for low pay.

They contribute immensely to China’s prosperity but benefit the least.

Neglect

This annual pilgrimage is usually the only time they get to see their children, because China’s household registration system excludes them from attending public schools in the city.

They are also denied public healthcare and social welfare.

Millions are forced to leave their children in the country with their grandparents while they eke out a living in the city.

They want them to get an education and a better life — but as the film shows, many of the children feel neglected.

They feel their parents care more about money than being with them.

The Zhangs’ daughter Qin is resentful of their absence and they are desperate to reconnect with her and steer her away from the cycle of separation and poverty, especially when she threatens to quit school and seek factory work.

The film is a harsh indictment on the political and economic structure that forces families to be separated.

It also shows the cultural impact. The traditional Confucian value of filial piety (respect for elders and ancestors) is being wiped out by materialism.

Behind the broader social and political commentary, the film is a moving tale of a family’s attempts to make the most of their harsh circumstances.

Filmed in classic verité style, this documentary is beautifully shot with stunning composition — the sweeping landscapes of China’s vast countryside are breathtaking.

The scenes inside Guangzhou’s packed and grubby train station are claustrophobic and tense — it seems like the entire city is desperately trying to get home.