Earthquake in Sichuan - A Conspiracy?
A Documentary Review of China’s Unnatural Disaster
On May 12th, 2008, an earthquake hits the province of Sichuan in China. The quake measures 7.8 on the Richter scale. Over 70,000 people are killed. This is one of the worst disasters in China, according to the parents in the Sichuan province – the worst, because it affected the school buildings, where their children were housed.
The 2009 HBO documentary, China’s Unnatural Disaster: the Tears of Sichuan Province, begins with the emotional aftermath. Parents are seen walking amongst the rubble, carrying pictures of their child – looking, searching and crying. The reality has hit most of them and sadness has turned to anger. The reason for anger is quite obvious when one looks at the rubble. The only buildings that have collapsed are academic buildings, including a primary school and a middle school. There were over 130 deaths within the primary school and over 430 deaths within the middle school.
Frustrated, parents search the rubble in hopes of finding physical evidence that their children have really passed on to gain closure. Those, who have found the remains of their children, create memorabilia consisting of candles and incence in the streets of Sichuan. Most carry pictures of their children, stating “they don’t know what else to do”.
The documentary, however, does not only focus on the grief and frustration of these parents. The goal of this documentary is not to show the devastation of the earthquake itself, but to present the issue of supposed corruption within the Chinese government.
The Conspiracy
The conspiracy, that the parents of the lost children claim are occurring right before their eyes, has something to do with the one child policy that haunts China. Parents are only allowed to have one child per family and thus, losing a child in the earthquake often means losing their only child. There was no help or support after the earthquake and many parents tell their story of how they personally had to dig out the corpse of their own child and find a burial site, as the crematories were packed.
The reason for this conspiracy is simple – the buildings that collapsed during the earthquake were school buildings. Two buildings collapsed completely, leaving only few survivors. The surrounding buildings did not suffer the same fate and remained standing. Some even go as far as to point fingers at the government, claiming that it was corruption against the population of China.
After being ignored for two weeks by politicians and people in authority, parents decide to march 70 miles to the capital of Sichuan to get resolution. This documentary highlights the differences in politics and social structure, as the interviews not only focus on the distraught parents, but also on individuals in the country who are unaffected by the tragedy. The views on the government’s efforts clearly differ in this respect.
This documentary effectively captures the anger, frustration and sadness these parents feel on their journey to justice. It not only gives a sense of sorrow and grief for these parents, but also a sense of hope that one day these parents will get the justice they so desperately seek.
- Studio: HBO
- Rating: Not Rated
- Running Time: 38 Minutes
Sichuan Earthquake
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