The Mao Years

A detailed two part documentary which looks at the society and politics of and events in China during the leadership of Mao Zedong and the Communist Party between 1949 and 1976. Part one, “Catch the Stars and the Moon” is a broad and somewhat objective examination of Mao’s rise to power, detailing his status as a party visionary and his astute political strategies towards communist reform of Chinese life up until 1960, with discussion of the international attitudes towards his government. Through interviews with the populace of the time, which provides an insightful representation of the mood of the early communist era, rare footage of Mao and Chinese life at the time, interviews with political analysts and academics and Western contemporaries, this first part of the program offers a comprehensive study of Mao’s leadership. It details the populations attitudes over time to the policies and legislation enacted and the nature of Chinese life and politics as his vision for Communist China led to the formulation of the growth program known as ‘The Great Leap Forward’. Part two, “It’s Right to Rebel” discusses the consequences of the industrial revolution policies which resulted in a three year long famine where an estimated 30 million people died and follows the withdrawal of Mao from daily politics for a number of years in a time of gradually increasing prosperity and relaxed controls for China under the leadership of Liu Shaouqui. The program then discusses Mao’s return to power and denouncement of the communist party officials he had led which caused a struggle within the party and within the populace that resulted in the proletarian cultural revolution from the mid 1960s to the early 1970s and continued to be felt even as the terror subsided. Foreign relations began to be fostered and questions began to be quietly asked of the infallibility of Mao until his death in 1976. Archival footage, interviews with members of the Red Guards and those under attack at the time, still photographs, and a thorough commentary combine to provide a detailed look at this period of Chinese history and represent the mood of the country then faced with moving ahead without the cult of Mao.