It is a documentary of one migrant family and the sad realities of life in sweat shop china. Homeward train is a 2009 documentary film directed by lixin fan and produced by daniel cross and mila aungthwin of eyesteelfilm. Last train home won best documentary feature at the 2009 international documentary. The unsustainable system in which the prc continues to function as the factory. Can you tell us what the reaction has been among u. Lixin fan opens his debut documentary feature, last train home, with an overhead shot of chinese migrant workers gathered by the thousands outside a railway station, hoping to get tickets so they can head home for the new years holiday. Shot digitally, last train home looks particularly good on dvd. Last train home, a 2010 album by foghat, also a song on the album. As the programme makers filmed, real life events took over the storyline and a simple, albeit shocking in itself documentary turned in to a doublelength programme that covered the real life, seedy, gritty, dangerous world of piccadilly rent boys when one of. This inspired him to become a documentary filmmaker with a focus on social issues.
All contents are provided by nonaffiliated third parties. Last train home has now been seen by audiences in america, both in theaters and now on pbs. Lixin fan records factory workers family in china the new. In september 2011, last train home director lixin fan provided the latest news on the zhang family and the film s reception in china. Last train home new docs each year, million chinese workers return home to celebrate the new year holiday, trekking hundreds of miles from industrialized cities to homes in the rural provinces. Its frontman, eric brace, is a former staff writer for the washington post where he was a music columnist covering the local music and nightlife scene. Painful social conflict will arise between those chinese citizens who produce consumer goods for the world, and those chinese who want to consume them. His sundance world cinema documentary competition film, last train home is a documentary masterpiece that depicts chinas meteoric rise. Jul 22, 2017 the lyrics for last train home by rod stewart have been translated into 1 languages im cold and lonely and i wanna be home in my bed the rain is fallin and is tingling down the back of my neck my pride is damned ive been taking for a fool i dont understand, all she has to do is call. Every spring, chinas cities are plunged into chaos as million migrant workers journey to their home villages for the new year in the worlds largest human migration. Last train home is truelife documentary, rather than fiction, but i think it stands comparison to these other works.
The new elevensong set was produced by billy sherwood and starts off with guitaristsinger todd rundgren and keyboardist brian auger giving their all to the king crimson original 21st century schizoid man. Sep 09, 2010 last train home is heartbreaking, incredibly moving, and documentary filmmaking at its best. Last train home itvs documentary film funding itvs. Sep 03, 2010 according to an introductory note that appears on screen at the beginning of lixin fans documentary last train home, every year, during the lunar new year, million workers return from. Every spring, chinas cities are plunged into chaos as an astonishing million migrant workers journey to their home villages for the new years holiday. Watch last train home directed by lixin fan online vimeo. Then lixin narrows his focus to one married couple.
It delves inside the prism and observes the phenomenon of chinese migration workers from rural villages to commercial cities, all through the reflection of a single family. Last train on vimeo the highquality home for video. Filmmaker lixin fan may very well be one of modernday chinas great nonfiction storytellers. Taking the last train home far flungers roger ebert. This mass exodus is the largest human migration on the planet, an epic spectacle that reveals a country tragically caught between its rural past and industrial future. Last train home by megan nugen isbell a sublime fivestar read. A couple embarks on a journey home for chinese new year along with million other migrant workers, to reunite with their children and struggle for a future. Its one of those extraordinary films, like hoop dreams, that tells a story the makers. Director lixin fan forces no comment, political otherwise, as he follows the lives of two chinese migrant workers over a period of two years. Kickstarting a documentary about the memphis country blues. Lixina s debut feature documentary last train home is the winner of joris ivens award at idfa 2009. Filmed with almost voyeuristic style, its hard not to want to turn away when you see the eyes of those being filmed glaring back at you as if daring you to look hard at the. Every spring, chinas cities are plunged into chaos, as all at.
Foghat has been on the oldies circuit so long that the appearance of a new album is a bit of a surprise and its even more so when its an outright blues album, as it is in 2010s last train home, their first new record in seven years. Last train home, an extraordinary documentary, watches that conflict play out over a period of three years in one family. Somebody told me last train to memphissweet soul music author peter guralnick and his brother drove in from philadelphia in a vw bus. Futures last train home director lixin fan indiewire. Sep 23, 20 filmmaker lixin fan may very well be one of modernday chinas great nonfiction storytellers. Last train home discussion guide influence film club. By the time i get to phoenix was the last song on your mind the day you left you woke up in nogales with tequila with her name across your chest youve stumbled. Some scenes were shocking, heartbreaking and others simply moving. Last train home tracks the zhang family, opening with scenes in a clothing warehouse where married couple changhua zhang and chen sugin work assiduously to support, one discovers through interview footage, their two children living over 1,000 kilometers away. Their unseen story plays out as china soars towards being a world superpower. In the opening shots of last train home, as the camera pans over a paved. Mar 25, 2010 last train home 2009, the debut film by director lixin fan, is a stunning documentary about the modern china. Last train home 2009, the debut film by director lixin fan, is a stunning documentary about the modern china.
Every spring, chinas cities are plunged into chaos as million migrant workers journey to their home villages for the new years holiday. The last train home is the first book in the home series, and what a first book, we meet seventeenyearold riley regas she was born and raised in boston, and life was perfect, then her folks got a divorce but she was dealing with it. Lixin fans documentary last train home visits this dark underbelly of chinese industrialization, though the film transcends the apparent limitations of its subject. Last train home is heartbreaking, incredibly moving, and documentary film making at its best.
With no signs of slowing down, last train home is one of the most dynamic and compelling bands on the landscape of american music. A young black insurance salesmen named denzel finds himself on the wrong side of the tracks in a town which still bears the scars of racial hatred from years past. This mass exodus is the worlds largest human migrationan epic spectacle that reveals a country tragically caught between its rural past and industrial future. Each year in china more than million migrant workers travel home for the new years holidaythe one time theyll reunite with family all year. Watch last train home directed by lixin fan online vimeo on. May 24, 2016 why does there need to be a documentary about the memphis country blues society, and the country blues festivals of 1967, 68, and 69. Last train home starts in the winter of 2006, and it follows one family contending with the rush and the crowds. Every spring, chinas cities are plunged into chaos, as all at once, a tidal wave of humanity attempts to return home by train. Watch the video for last train home from blink182s california deluxe edition for free, and see the artwork, lyrics and similar artists.
The film deals with the worlda s largest human migration by millions of factory workers every year during the chinese new year. Fittingly for veterans of the arena rock 70s, foghats blues are heavily steeped in the british invasions version of the blues theyre long. Last train home was an interesting, but disturbing, documentary by lixin fan showing us the modern china,where most of the manufacturing for the world were made today. The last train 1995 full movie with tizana redford. Set against the backdrop of the worlds largest annual human migration, last train home follows changhua zhang and his wife suqin, factory workers who travel home once a year on chinese new. In these few eloquent shots, last train home captures what few other films have. Lixin fan is a socialpolitical documentary filmmaker.
Word has it that director lixin fans last train home has won the vpro idfa award for best featurelength documentary, and based on the trailer, it seems to be with good reason. Last train home, reflection essay example graduateway. It won the best documentary feature at 2009 idfa and has been distributed by zeitgeist films in the us. So director augusta palmer can get local treasure jimmy. A miniature masterpiece of documentary observation. I often found myself thinking what are these people living for. Use one of the film s accompanying resources to learn about the issues and get involved. Leslie hunts vocals on the elp original a time and a place is pure magic, along with keyboardist extraordinaire giving the song the amazing solo it deserves. This documentary portrayed the brutal living standards of an average chinese family. Last train home full frame documentary film festival. Rent last train home 2009 starring changhua zhan and suqin chen on dvd and bluray. The last train, last train home the last train, the last train home last train, last train. Jun 30, 2010 each year in china more than million migrant workers travel home for the new years holidaythe one time theyll reunite with family all year.
Last train home takes viewers on a heartstopping journey with the zhangs, a couple who left infant children behind for factory jobs 16 years ago, hoping their wages would lift their children to a better life. The film went on to win the genie award as canadas top documentary feature and was also an official selection at the 2008 sundance film festival. Last train home ep, a 2009 ep by ryan star, or the title song. Learn what has happened to the zhang family from the documentary last train home, and whats next for the films director, lixin fan. Last train home is a stark, bleak, and unflinching revelation of a film. Aug 21, 2016 this feature is not available right now. Rent last train home 2009 on dvd and bluray dvd netflix. Working over several years in classic verite style chinesecanadian filmmaker lixin fan with the producers of the awardwinning hit documentary up the yangtze. Johnny go home 1975 august 20, 2016 september 20, 2017 peg in 1975 granada tv showed a groundbreaking documentary on young runaways and life on the meat rack in londons west end. Last train home, a 2015 pat metheny group compilation album. Like which way home, the documentary that tracks impoverished latin american kids precariously trainhopping up to america, director lixin fans cinema veritestyle documentary last train home also uses trainsthis time in chinaas a metaphor delineating class to promote viewer understanding of social hardship.
The night is empty theres a mist coming in real fast so ill around and whistle up the two from the past id better stop walking the road is starting to freeze somewhere in this city theres got to be a girl for me just me the last train home. With six fulllength recordings under its belt, along with a christmas ep and another collection of cover tunes, last train home is a prolific band that gets better with each passing release. With changhua zhang, yang zhang, suqin chen, qin zhang. Emotionally engaging and starkly beautiful, last train homes intimate observation. But last train home, which won best feature documentary at idfa 2009 and has screened at numerous festivals including sundance, new. Lixin fan records factory workers family in china the. Zhang changhua and chen suqin, who have to wait days and pay triple the regular fare to take a steamy. Methenys musical contexts separate into many branches. Cut to a rural village, where zhangs two kids, teenage girl qin zhang and her younger. In 1975 granada tv showed a groundbreaking documentary on young runaways and life on the meat rack in londons west end. A documentary exploring the quiet, empty world of the last subway train of the night, and the stories of the people riding it. The boston globe lixin fan may very well be one of modernday chinas great nonfiction storytellers. Nanci griffith last train home lyrics genius lyrics. Best canadian film take 21 film last train on vimeo.
The documentary blog podcast is a new biweekly podcast discussing nonfiction filmmaking in all its forms. Patrick bruce metheny born 12 august 1954 in lees summit, missouri, usa is an american jazz guitarist and leader of the pat metheny group. Last train home, a 2009 documentary directed by lixin fan. Watch last train home directed by lixin fan online. Last train home masterfully chronicles the personal story of the zhangs, a family of migrant. Jul 01, 2012 the most important film ive seen in years. Watch the video for last train home from pat methenys one quiet night for free, and see the artwork, lyrics and similar artists.
Read more about the family at the center of the documentary last train home. And knocks upon the door i have stumbled through the alley in a place i did not know if its all the same to you, love i will take the last train home i have cursed you in the morning i have laid awake at night i have begged for your forgiveness to avoid a fight i have held on to my anger watched the sunset on my pride if its all the same to you, love leave and pass me by woah, woah honey don. Last train home, a television film starring noam zylberman. Complications arise when denzel crosses paths with the leader of the retribution clan, john, who hides a dark secret of hatred and. That the 69 festival really ignited the spark of his. A feature documentary about migrant workers in china and the worlds largest annual human migration. According to an introductory note that appears on screen at the beginning of lixin fans documentary last train home, every year, during the lunar new year, million workers return from.
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