Yang Ban Xi: The 8 Modelworks

Name: Yang Ban Xi: The 8 Modelworks
Genre: Documentary
Released: March 29, 2006
Duration: 90 min
Rating: 60

2006

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Mixed or average reviews based on 10 Critic Reviews

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Generally unfavorable reviews based on 8 Ratings

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3.9

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3.9	User Score Generally unfavorable reviews based on 8 Ratings

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Movie Details & Credits

Shadow Distribution | Release Date: March 29, 2006

Summary: This documentary examines the rise and fall of the revolutionary model opera, or Yang Ban Xi, in China.

Director: Yan Ting Yuen

Genre(s): Documentary

Runtime: 90 min

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Critic Reviews

Ella Taylor

Enthralling documentary. Read full review

G. Allen Johnson

A proper labor of love profiling many of the principles involved in the making of the films, peppered with a generous helping of wonderful clips. Read full review

Manohla Dargis

The director Yan-Ting Yuen revisits the country's recent past to explore the history and legacy of one of the strangest byproducts of totalitarian madness: the revolutionary spectacular. Read full review

Kevin Crust

Overall, the film lacks cohesion and a true point of view. Further muddling the film's meaning is a voice-over attributed to Jiang Qing, which we learn at the end is fictionalized. Read full review

J. Hoberman

Both frustrating and fascinating, Yuen's documentary is something of a stray footnote. It requires not only the context of the yang ban xi but the perspective of other movies on the subject of entertainment and utopia. Read full review

Richard James Havis

Will intrigue art house audiences unfamiliar with modern Chinese history. But sinophiles and followers of Chinese cinema will be shocked by the lack of historical detail and context. Read full review

J.R. Jones

Despite the fascinating topic, director Yan-ting Yuen offers relatively little history or criticism of the works themselves, squandering screen time on such gimmicks as mock voice-over and scenes of young people performing hard-rock and hip-hop versions of vintage songs. It's enough to make you pine for the good old days when irony was illegal. Read full review

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