TV Reviews : China’s People Come Into Focus in ‘Red Dynasty’

To mark the 40th anniversary of the People’s Republic of China this month, the Arts & Entertainment network is launching a three-part series, “Red Dynasty,” with the help of the veteran documentary makers at the BBC.

The first hour runs tonight at 6 with a repeat at 10 on A&E;, then once more Sunday at 8 a.m. The other episodes will run in the same time slots in consecutive weeks.

The programs bring to mind our grand national lack of information about this mass of people. We knew all about egg rolls and won ton soup--but with the massacre at Tian An Men Square , we seemed to discover that there was a whole country there. So we were inundated with hot bulletins and news specials and assorted explorations by the media. But, like the proverbial Chinese meal, it left us hungry for more.

With only three hours, this series (the third episode, on the turmoil in rural Chinese life, wasn’t screened) doesn’t add particular volumes to the subject, except to bring clarity to incredible complexities, much to the credit of writer-narrator Edward Behr. The series has the usual steady, tasteful, almost incredibly understated tone of the usual BBC historicals, no matter what the ferocious events being portrayed.

The first episode, “Sons of the Revolution,” goes back through old film to trace apocalyptic events, including the legendary “Long March” in 1934 when the communist forces fled Chiang Kai-shek across the landscape. Supposedly 4,000 of the 80,000 survived, including the genius Mao Tse-tung and Deng Xiaoping, who would engineer the slaughter of last summer.

Part 2, “The Legacy,” is full of terrible ironies. The BBC set out to make a film on the future of China--”but that was no longer possible,” said narrator Behr. Crews had been following selected observers who could trace the great gains of the People’s Republic in modern times.

But with the protest euphoria at its height, during a supper with some of the BBC subjects being filmed, one of them reflects on how happy people are these days, how people are uncommonly smiling in the streets.

Notes a young Chinese woman, “I wonder how long that will last.”