When
disaster strikes, government is there to step in and help, right? In today’s China, not necessarily. When the 2008 earthquake hit Sichuan, the
town of Beichuan was simply leveled to the ground. Documentary producer turned director Zhao Qi records
the ironies and indignities of the city’s rebuilding process in Fallen City (trailer here), which screens
during the 2013 Sundance Film Festival in Park City.
Once
a community of 20,000 strong, the survivors of Beichuan now live in crude
temporary housing as they await the shiny new city the state media breathlessly
promises them. Each and every one of
them grieves for multiple family members.
Especially heartrending are the Pengs, who mourn their eleven year old
daughter. Watching the inconsolable
father pore over her drawings salvaged from their flat like holy relics is truly
painful. They are not alone in their agony. The audience also sees in clear terms how the
teenaged Hong’s behavioral issues are directly related to the loss of his
father.
To
add insult to injury, when the citizens of Beichuan seek traditional solace on
the anniversary of the quake, the police physically prevent them from entering
the “old city,” thereby undermining their attempts at closure through
ritual. In fact, the disconnect between
officialdom, as expressed by Orwellian newscasts, and reality is a theme
running throughout Fallen.
In
several ways, Fallen lets the
government off the hook, scrupulously avoiding discussion of the so-called “Tofu
Construction” causing the disproportionate collapse of school buildings, or the
Party’s concerted efforts to prevent the release of an accurate death
toll. Yet, the facts on the ground Zhao
captures through his lens are impossible to miss. We see the media hypocrisy, institutionalized
economic inequalities, and corrupt criminal justice system up close and
personal.