Great Film overall

Absolutely Fantastic

The thing I enjoyed most about the film is the fact that it doesn't shy away from being a super-sized-cliche;

Exactly the movie you think it is, but not the movie you want it to be.

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