Once the thriving capital of Imperial China, the city of Datong now lies in near ruins. Not only is it the most polluted city in the country, it is also crippled by decrepit infrastructure and even shakier economic prospects. But Mayor Geng Tanbo plans to change all that, announcing a bold, new plan to return Datong to its former glory, the cultural haven it was some 1,600 years ago. Such declarations, however, come at a devastatingly high cost. Thousands of homes are to be bulldozed, and a half-million of its residents (30 percent of Datong’s total population) will be relocated under his watch. Whether he succeeds depends entirely on his ability to calm swarms of furious workers and an increasingly perturbed ruling elite. The Chinese Mayor captures, with remarkable access, a man and, by extension, a country leaping frantically into an increasingly unstable future.
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Reviews
Very well executed
In truth, there is barely enough story here to make a film.
There's no way I can possibly love it entirely but I just think its ridiculously bad, but enjoyable at the same time.
By the time the dramatic fireworks start popping off, each one feels earned.
The general consensus is that documentaries need to be educational in some way, and "The Chinese Mayor" certainly is. The sheer brutality of many scenes sets it apart from the vast majority of other documentaries on Chinese urban life. The mayor ordered almost dictatorially from the top, then found himself being almost a victim of corruption, tangled in a web of deception and lies. This brings out quite a few heavy questions about the political systems, for instance, how much power is enough, and would people ever be satisfied? At the same time, it answers questions such as why Chinese local governments suffer from a tremendous amount of debt, a question that people often fail to grasp the essence of. Zhou's talent shines throughout the documentary, his handling of the protagonist being extremely genuine. Such honesty is almost one and only among Chinese documentaries.
There's no need to travel more than 6,000 miles to Datong, Shanxi to know that the life of a politician is mostly filled with accusations, confrontations, and pure misery. However, the life of Mayor Geng Yanbo is much more stressful than your average American politician since his plan to relocate 500,000 citizens in the name of cleaning out his town (the most polluted city in China due to coal-mining) is met with much hostility. Director Hao Zhou paints a portrait of an individual who appears to want to serve his community with the best of intentions. But moving 30% of the city's population is bound to spark a resistance, especially when there are already issues with the newly constructed housing projects. Along with tracking multiple stray dogs trotting through heaps of garbage, Zhou provides the opposition an opportunity to share their stories and one can only wince at the heartbreaking loss many of these victims are facing. Yanbo may believe you can't make an omelet without breaking a few eggs, but how many eggs have to be broken before the omelet is doing more damage than good. In regards to this case, T.S. Eliot's quote is quite fitting with, "Most of the evil in this world is done by people with good intentions." -Jimmy Martin
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