China - A Century of Revolution

Starring:China-Century of Revolution
Studio: Winstar
Product Type: DVD

Average customer rating:

China: A Century of Revolution (Three Disc Set)
Starring: China-Century of Revolution
Manufacturer: Zeitgeist Films
ProductGroup: DVD
Binding: DVD

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ASIN: B000Q7ZOLC
Release Date: 2007-07-10

Product Description

China: A Century of Revolution is a six-hour tour de force journey through that country s most tumultuous period. First televised on PBS, this award-winning documentary series presents an astonishingly candid view of a once-secret nation with rare archival footage, insightful historical commentary and stunning eyewitness accounts from citizens who struggled through China s most decisive century.

China in Revolution charts the country s most violent era where decades of civil war and foreign invasions led to the bloody battle for power between Mao Zedong and Chiang Kai-shek. The Mao Years examines the turbulent era of Mao s attempts to forge a new China from the war-ravaged and poverty-stricken nation. Mao s death begins Born Under the Red Flag, which follows the country s new leadership of Deng Xiaoping and its unlikely transformation into an extraordinary hybrid of communist-centralized politics with an ever-expanding free market economy.

Monumental in scope, China: A Century of Revolution is critical viewing for anyone interested in this increasingly powerful and globally influential country.

Average customer rating:

Narrator
More excellent information here..!
Absolutely compelling
Monumental doucumentary. Sweeping in scope and detail.
Great, but not quite 5 stars

China - A Century of Revolution
Starring: China-Century of Revolution
Manufacturer: Winstar
ProductGroup: DVD
Binding: DVD

General | Documentary | Genres | DVD | Video

( C ) | Titles | Features | DVD | Video

Documentary | Boxed Sets | Stores | DVD | Video

Commanding Heights: The Battle for the World Economy
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ASIN: B00005RRID
Release Date: 2002-02-05

Customer Reviews:

Narrator.......2007-05-30

I am always curious about the narrators of series because they can make or break a documentary.

Oddly, the DVD does not credit the narrator Will Lyman, who has done such a good job for this and other series with China as the subject (like on Frontline).

Peter Coyote ("The Pacific Century") and Will Lyman add a lot of value to their Asia documentaries.

More excellent information here..!.......2005-08-25

For more information on Chinese history over the past 80 years, I encourage everyone to this website: http://www.theepochtimes.com/jiuping.asp and read its articles entitled, "Nine Commentaries on the Communist Party". The information is very in-depth and goes steps further in exposing the CCP during its bloody rise to power and its current efforts to maintain absolute control. I would highly recommend checking it out.. All the materials are FREE and they even have free audio book format mp3's

Absolutely compelling.......2005-03-23

Without any histrionics, without any overt agenda, without any fancy graphics or flashy effects, this six-hour series provides a totally absorbing, very moving portrait of China in the 20th century. The interview subjects are extraordinarily candid, and the archival footage is fascinating. Truly first rate.

Monumental doucumentary. Sweeping in scope and detail........2004-05-23

This documentary is excellently produced and I can easily watch all 6-hours of it in one sitting. It is just that compelling and fascinating to see the history of China over the last century unfold and come to life in expert testimony and primary footage of the actual events that took place, even all the way back to a speech given by Sun Yat-Sen.

6 hours is long, and at the same time, it is a very short space to compress a full century of history into. However, this film does it superbly. The dvd splits the history into three eras. The pre-WWII period (Sun Yat-Sen, Japanese Invation, the duel between the CCP and the KMT), the rise of Mao and the Communists, and what the future holds for China and the Chinese. There is ample detail provided about events and people who shaped each era.

If you know nothing about China in the last century, and all the turmoil which occured, I would strongly recommend this documentary. It has no equal in terms of it's broad scope and compelling content, and makes the already intriging story of China in the 20th century come even more alive, and human.

If you already are a Chinese history buff, this film will be interesting all the same.

It is full of rare footage (where else will you get to see Dr. Sun in film? or peasants "struggling" against their landlords?) and audio (I've never heard Madame Mao's voice before this.) that you will probably never see or hear anywhere else. Interviews with those who endured the Cultural Revoution and those who will shape the future of China give the film an intimate touch. Included are: Dr. Li, Mao's personal physician of two decades, Chinese celebrities, peasants, landlords, urban dwellers, students. All love China, but they sweep the gamut from those who hate Mao to those who love him, and what the Communists have done for/to China, and what the future lies in store for them, and the rest of the Chinese people.

Overall, and AMAZING documentary with an incredible scope. Covering one of the most amazing and remarkable chapters of human history, good and bad, this documentary will not dissapoint.

Great, but not quite 5 stars.......2003-11-22

This is an excellent and exhaustive documentary. The perfect primer for learning the social topography of our increasingly important neighbors to the East.

But it's not a complete masterpiece. It relies primarily on archival footage. And though many of these films are rare, they are almost entirely gleaned from propaganda films. The directors fill in the gaps through interviews, some quite striking for youthful appearence of the elderly intervewees.

It is remarkable for the way it concisely summarizes a complex and brutal history in 360 minutes. But what it lacks is investigative prowess and graphic brilliance.

Granted, China is not the easiest country to conduct an investigation or shoot a documentary in. But I'm left with the feeling that in 5 years, with further liberalization, a 5 star version of this documentary could be made.

Until then, this documentary comes highly recommended.

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