Educational Media Reviews Online

Common threads throughout the videotapes in this set are clearly evident, but each stands alone and could be used productively in support of curriculum related to its individual subject. All are nicely crafted, with excellent video and audio, if one understands Chinese. English-speaking viewers must rely on subtitles for understanding. For the most part, the subtitles are acceptable, but they suffer from two defects: at some crucial moments they don’t remain on the screen long enough to be read; and, several times they appear against a visually busy background, which makes them hard to read.

An international team led by the BBC produced the set, but each tape has its own director(s), settings, etc. The audios are mainly in Chinese, punctuated occasionally by brief English voiceovers. All are unexpurgated and contain language and/or images that could offend some viewers. The tapes need not be viewed sequentially. This reviewer found it hard to listen to the Chinese audio for long periods of time and recommends against viewing all four at one sitting. They need not be cataloged as a unit, although a library that classifies them broadly as “Asian studies” would probably prefer doing it that way.

The Secret of My Success may come as a shock to some who think the authorities in Beijing run everything, everywhere throughout China. It follows a no-holds-barred village election that shows dirty tricks are not confined to U.S. presidential races, but are equally effective at ousting local officials in rural China. Mr. Lu, the village family planning officer, is about to be sacked from his position by the village head, because, thanks to Lu’s incompetence, a farm wife has carried an unregistered third pregnancy to term. When she is discovered, the mother-to-be flees the village to avoid a forced abortion. In retaliation, Mr. Lu mounts a clearly fraudulent election campaign against the village head, getting Mr. Tan, a friend, to run against her. Mr. Lu and his friends take the village’s one automobile and scour the countryside having illiterate farm folk give them proxies making Mr. Lu eligible to cast their votes. He assures them he will choose candidates who will bring rain for their crops and enrich them. In the end, Mr. Tan wins the election, Mr. Lu keeps his job, and the farmer’s newly born son is allowed to live. The village won’t have any more unregistered pregnancies, though. The video closes with brutally revealing scenes of the mother’s tubes being tied in a county clinic.

In The War of Love the difficulties Chinese singles face in finding marriage partners is explored as well as the problems that prompt wives of all ages to seek divorces. Viewers learn that young singles work hard for long hours and have few opportunities to meet anyone outside their offices. Forlorn men encounter women who are choosier and prefer to remain single than marry “Mr. Wrong.” As one might guess, a government office is addressing the problem. Its attractive director, Ms. Hu, and her staff run a dating service on evenings and weekends, finding and persuading marriageable young people to go with them for holidays at local resorts, where they entertain them in romantic surroundings in hopes of getting them to pair off and fall in love. However, when they succeed and a wedding results, the bridal couple often hide the truth about their introduction, failing to encourage single friends to try the service. The office also serves as a women’s rights center. Divorce counseling is a large part of its business. We hear horrendous stories of wife abuse and learn that Ms. Hu’s own marriage is not happy. The moral of the story is that a good man is harder than ever to find - even in Beijing.

Xiao’s Long March begins by showing the daily routine of a young man from a poor family who has failed the university entrance exams. His mother nags and berates him while he lazes endlessly on the sofa, smoking and watching television. He feels and acts like a failure, and decides to enlist in the army. He struggles to get up the courage to go to the recruiting center and commit himself. We see him sign on the dotted line, get on the bus, have his head shorn, submit to embarrassing medical examinations, get yelled at by his sergeant, and endure all manner of excruciating drills and time-honored boot camp rituals. Together with his comrades, he weeps with homesickness, struggles to learn soldiering, and bears down when he is pushed past his physical limits. Some comrades fall by the wayside, but Xiao perseveres. In the end, he begins to hold up his head and fill his uniform with pride when he completes basic training and realizes what he has accomplished. He has found a calling.

This Happy Life tells a larger story of life among ordinary Chinese through the daily routines of two railway workers, Mr. Liu and Mr. Fu. Mr. Liu is upbeat, handsome in a military-style uniform, with a pretty wife and young son. He wants his son to learn English so he can go to the United States for university. His comrades help him move to a new apartment, bought with a large bank loan. Afterward, he entertains the group, happily toasting and partying. Mr. Fu is reserved and distant. His teenage son is leaving to join the army. His first wife’s death made his parental relationship unusually close, though painful. Mr. Fu’s second wife, whom he would like to divorce but doesn’t wish to hurt, isn’t companionable. Every day, crises occur, including a murder, an abandoned baby, and the constant stress of dealing with the schedules, equipment problems, and harried travelers. When government-sponsored economic reforms begin, Mr. Liu’s wife is laid off. He worries his job will go, too. They need money for their son’s private school and the mortgage now weighs heavily. Mr. Fu urges everyone in his unit, including Liu, to stop fretting about their jobs and carry on. Mr. Fu’s sorrow is concealed, except when he weeps openly during an annual visit to his first wife’s grave. The truth behind the happy life of the title is revealed to be complex and bittersweet.

Recommended for university-level courses on social, cultural, and political issues in the People’s Republic of China, with reservations for adult content, language, and some nudity.