CHINA TRILOGY: rare footages, undisputably the best documentary about China.
In 1986 Ambrica Productions began the CHINA Trilogy, a series of three feature-length documentaries that explore the history of modern China. Much of the twentieth century in China has been dominated by a single generation of men and women and their commitment to communism. This group formed the Chinese Communist Party in the 1920's, came to power in the 1940's and transformed the country into a world power in the 1980's. Now the last leaders of this generation are passing away, bringing to an end one of the most dramatic periods of Chinese history. Their stories and the stories of the ordinary people of China -- peasants and workers, intellectuals and soldiers, families in villages and cities -- form the heart of the CHINA Trilogy.
The first film, CHINA IN REVOLUTION describes the epic upheaval that began in China with the fall of the last emperor in 1911. Over the next four decades, the Chinese people were caught up in struggles with warlords, foreign invasion and a bitter rivalry between the Chinese Communist Party and the Nationalist Party. The film highlights the two figures who came to shape events, Chang Kai-shek and Mao Zedong. First they worked as allies to unite the country and then they fought a bloody civil war that was won by the Communists in 1949.
CHINA IN REVOLUTION 1911-1949 explores the turbulent years prior to the establishment of the People's Republic of China (PRC) in 1949. This ground breaking television documentary is the first to examine this complex historical era through interviews with people who experienced it. In the course of the program, viewers watch and listen as Chinese citizens recall their dramatic pasts. The film, which combines rare archival footage with location segments filmed in China and Taiwan, was first broadcast on PBS just after the Tiananmen Square tragedy of 1989. CHINA IN REVOLUTION begins Ambrica Production's epic series on the history of 20th century China.
PRESS REVIEWS
"The film provides exactly the sort of long-range socio-political context that Western news organizations seldom bring to breaking events. Moreover, it does so with a visual integrity that is simply stunning... If this film serves no other purpose, it reminds us that the Tiananmen Square rebellion has a much longer history -- and a far deeper context -- than a few days in June 1989. No one 'lost'China, but this film helps re-find her." The Boston Globe
"What is remarkable about this documentary film is not only that it contains rare footage chronicling those turbulent years, but also that the archival footage is enlivened by the film-makers' interviews with people - both on the mainland and on Taiwan - who either witnessed the happenings shown on the screen or were themselves participants in the historic events that changed China for better or for worse. The recounting of their personal experiences brings history closer to the audience and provides authentic details in a breathtaking panorama." The Asian Wall Street Journal .
《China - A Century of Revolution》 Sue Willams 1989,1994,1997
