A powerful, informative and sometimes deeply moving documentary about China's Tianamen Square protests in 1989; what led up to them, how they went down, and their aftermath for the participants.
Both the interviews and the historical footage are riveting.
What isn't quite as solid is Apted's choice to stage reenactments, and sometimes intercut them into the middle of real footage. It can feel hokey and unneeded.
But that one minor glitch is not enough to seriously damage such an important and worthy work.
It's a shame that such an important and alive work on recent history has been allowed to go out of print in the US, although some of the better video stores still have copies.
Both the interviews and the historical footage are riveting.
What isn't quite as solid is Apted's choice to stage reenactments, and sometimes intercut them into the middle of real footage. It can feel hokey and unneeded.
But that one minor glitch is not enough to seriously damage such an important and worthy work.
It's a shame that such an important and alive work on recent history has been allowed to go out of print in the US, although some of the better video stores still have copies.