`Moving The Mountain': Tiananmen Square Tale

------------ MOVIE REVIEW ------------

XXX "Moving the Mountain," documentary directed by Michael Apted. Varsity, today through Wednesday. No rating; mature subject matter.

English director Michael Apted has always made social awareness part of his movies. From his documentary series, including "28 Up," to his feature films such as "Gorillas In The Mist" and even "Blink," he gave us strong female protagonists.

Here, Apted has teamed with producer Trudie Styler (wife of the musician Sting) to bring an intricate and labored account of the events which led to the 1989 Beijing-Tiananmen Square massacre in China.

The title "Moving the Mountain" alludes to an allegorical story told to the children of China about defeating obstacles through constant perserverence. Against a broad political backdrop, Apted focuses on the story of Li Lu, a young student born a month before Chairman Mao launched his Cultural Revolution, an oppressive and regimented campaign that tore families apart and terrorized the country.

After losing his parents in an earthquake, the orphaned infant is shuttled from home to home, unwanted. Thus he is able later to comprehend the isolation and segregation that defined Mao's movement. As Li Lu explains, "these are the grass people, the dirt people, the people of nobody."

With the re-education of China's masses enforced through mandatory labor camps, the student population organized, maintaining

hope when Mao died in the late 1970s. Under the new leadership of Deng Xiaoping there was a spirit of freedom but it was soon extinguished. Finally, in the 1980s, the moving of the mountain began, culminating in April and May of 1989. Eyes were opened to democracy and the sleeping dragon began to stir.

Through interviews with Li Lu and several other students integral to the chain of events, the Tiananmen Square confrontation is examined. Crucially, Apted moves past that moment to the present-day lives of these children of China. All but one have fled their homeland to exile in America.

But China is never out of their hearts or sights. Each labors to bring human and civil rights to the individual. As one student, imprisoned for his participation in the demonstration, notes, "freedom is like oxygen. You don't feel it when you have it, but you definitely feel it when you don't."

"Moving the Mountain" is a heartfelt, strong and sometimes emotional film. Apted chronicles the day-by-day events with great care, almost to the point of repetition. He uses newsreel footage that places the viewer in the throng. Apted ultimately creates an effective portrait of an idealistic movement and the aftermath of the students' inability to be prepared for the onslaught that occurred.

"Moving the Mountain" is a film of both integrity and of naivete in action. It casts a logical light on the chain of events that led to one of the most devastating tragedies of recent history, while establishing an atmosphere of hope for the freedoms that the imprisoned, exiled and oppressed children of China continue to dream of and fight for.