Up the Yangtze follows one peasant family as their home and way of life is swept up in the rising tide of China's march towards progress.

The epic documentary by Chinese-Canadian filmmaker Yung Chang captures some of the final moments before the Three Gorges Dam chokes off the river and the rising waters displace two million people.

Some have compared the project --- the largest of its kind in the world -- to filling the Grand Canyon with water.

The filmmaker told CTV.ca he set out to document the cruise ships that take Western passengers on "farewell cruises" to view the gorges for the last time before they are filled up as part of the world's largest hydro project.

But "Up the Yangtze" became much more than that, turning into a story about one family's struggle to deal with the realities of a changing China, the cost of progress and the clash of East and West.

"It's a look at contemporary China through the guise of these luxury farewell cruise ships where Western tourists wave goodbye to the disappearing Three Gorges," said Yung Chang during an interview in Toronto.

"Meanwhile below deck are the local crew, some of whom are being directly affected by the relocation process and the flooding of the river. "Up the Yangtze" follows in this sort of Gosford Park upstairs, downstairs world, some of the kids on the boat as they go through life changes on this cruise experience."

In particular the film focuses on two teens employed on one of the ships, Yu Shui, the oldest daughter of a poor farming family that lives on the banks of the river, and Chen Bo Yu, a middle class teen.

Chang found the teens after cold-calling the New York-based Victoria Cruise Lines, and being granted unlimited access both above and below decks.

"I found them through the recruitment process when the cruise ships go to look for new employees in the river towns -- like a natural casting call," he explained.

Family ties on the river

Chang developed a close bond with Yu Shui and her family -- she even calls him her "bigger brother." And his close relationship to the family is obvious in the film, as he seems to simply disappear into the background. There's rarely any indication the family even knows he is there as they go about their lives without a hint of pretension.

In one heartbreaking scene, Yu Shui tells her parents she wants to go to high school, but they explain there's no money to pay for it and instead she must go to work on the cruise ship.

"That was really a heartfelt, raw, emotional moment and I was lucky to be there for that," Chang said.

"It came about through asking Yu Shui if she knew she had to move, their family had to move and would never be able to move back to their home, that it would be flooded forever. She asked this to her parents and that was the result -- that scene."

It's a key moment in the life of the family, and helps set the direction for the rest of the film. Chang is there when Yu Shui leaves home for the first time, carrying her possessions in a grocery bag as she walks to the ship. He's there as she arrives in the new world of foreigners and luxury and hard work, and as she learns to survive in the new environment.

He also follows the cocky, wealthy Chen Bo Yu as he says goodbye to his friends and, with dollar signs in his eyes, begins his career on the ship, quickly learning how to pressure foreigners into giving large tips.

Chang is also present when the manager of the ship informs the young man he is conceited and arrogant, and his performance simply doesn't measure up to the company's standards.

It's those moments that elevate this film beyond being a simple snapshot of life in the Three Gorges, but turn it into a compelling look at how China's push for progress affects real, ordinary people and their families -- but without any editorializing about the issue.

"I think on one level I wanted to make a film that left an audience asking more questions as opposed to having some sort of conclusion or offering some concrete black and white answers about what it means to be living in China as a Chinese," Chang says.

"I really wanted to create a 360 degree perspective and not lambaste the Chinese as a Westerner or impose any sort of imperial comment. So I really wanted to provoke the audience into thinking about what it means to be living in China and the world now as we are more and more globalized and confronted with these issues of poverty, change, progress, modernization."

Capturing a bit of history

The film was shot over a period of about a year, during which Chang was in China for eight straight months working with a Chinese crew to capture the story. But the project has been in the works since 2003, when he first began thinking about the story and how to best render it on film.

But Chang's connection goes back further than that. The Yangtze, an almost mythical vein in China, has had a place in his life since childhood. Chang's grandfather, now 87, used to sing him songs and tell him stories about the river that is often referred to as the lifeline of the country and one of those songs is even featured in the documentary.

"I couldn't help but steep myself in the context of its importance. So I guess in the end it is a capturing of a moment in history and I'm lucky to have been there at the right time," he said.

Up the Yangtze follows a natural arc that helps connect the viewer to the story. It begins on the banks of the Yangtze, a place where life for many hasn't changed in centuries. From there it follows the teens as their parents send them to work on the cruise ships -- ironically receiving benefit from the construction of a dam that will soon change their lives forever.

And the film's conclusion is perhaps the most dramatic moment. With the waters rising Yu Shui's father -- a simple, gentle, strong man, begins moving their possessions to higher ground.

The small, unimposing man demonstrates his strength, and perhaps the strength of his people, as he straps a massive wardrobe to his back and slowly, step by patient step, carries it up the long, steep embankment to higher ground.

From there, the rise of the river is captured in a time-lapse series of images that firmly and forever, closes the door on a chapter in the family's life.

"That was, I think, unforgettable. Life changing," Chang says, recalling the final moments of the family's riverside life.

"I think especially filming the flooding of their home and the move seemed to reach an almost mythical status."

Chang is still in contact with the family and plans to maintain the bond they have established through the long hours he spent eating, sharing, and living with them, something he considers essential to his integrity as a filmmaker.