YOUNG AND RESTLESS IN CHINA: free documentary from FRONTLINE

[Brian Thibodeau]

Stumbled across a couple of reviews of this feature-length documentary YOUNG AND RESTLESS IN CHINA, and was gonna wishlist the DVD at a few places until a search revealed it's part of the PBS program FRONTLINE and, as such, can be viewed online for free. It's the first of a planned five-film documentary series, a la Britain's 7-UP series, covering 20 years in the lives of a group of 20- and 30-something Chinese people beginning in 2004. Good stuff, and if you watch in fullscreen mode, links pop in from the screen sides to jump you to relevant info about the subjects, music, etc., in effect, supplementary features not found on the DVD. Powerful stuff:

http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/youngchina/

DVD at Amazon:
http://www.amazon.com/dp/B0018O3P3G/

From the same director, CHINA IN THE RED (2003), another FRONTLINE documentary.
http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/shows/red/

[dleedlee]

Young and Restless already played here on our local PBS a couple weeks back. I DVR'd it but haven't watched it yet. Looking forward to it, but right now it's in a new DVR stack. I might need to bump this up.

Sometimes the DVD versions are a bit longer than the broadcast version. Not sure if that's the case here.

I didn't realize Ming Na-Wen was in this either.

[Brian Thibodeau]

Sometimes the DVD versions are a bit longer than the broadcast version. Not sure if that's the case here.

I got to wondering about that as I was watching it last night, as I remembered FRONTLINE is usually an hour in length. The Amazon listing states 106 minutes. The online version of the documentary is broken into 11 segments, and each runs anywhere from about 7 to 12 minutes (based on the 7 I've watched so far), which makes me think it's the full length version. Perhaps the TV version was either cut or aired in an extended time slot. This is an endlessly insightful program, by the way. Can't wait to finish it tonight. Hope I'm around to catch all the followups in the years ahead, too! I'm guessing Ming-Na provides voiceovers, as most of the native Mandarin speakers are dubbed, but in that respectful FRONTLINE way where you can still hear their actual voices underneath.

[dleedlee]

I'm guessing Ming-Na provides voiceovers, as most of the native Mandarin speakers are dubbed, but in that respectful FRONTLINE way where you can still hear their actual voices underneath.

That's what I was thinking, too. FRONTLINE is a great series. Oftentimes, I stumble across it flipping channels and just get hooked, whatever the topic.