When the Dragon Swallowed the Sun (Dirk Simon): USA

Reviewed by Jonas Pedersen Hardebrant. Viewed at Lobero Theatre at Santa Barbara International Film Festival.

When the Dragon Swallowed the Sun is giving light to an issue that was highly controversial last year when the monks in Tibet peacefully demonstrated against Chinas violent tactics to take down the opposition against the Chinese ruling in Tibet. The background in the highly inflamed situation is that Tibet was a independent country before China in the 1950’s decided that Tibet should be a part of China. An army was sent to take down the Tibetan army, and after his holiness Dalai Lama unsuccessfully begged the UN for help, Tibet gave after and surrendered.  Since then there has been a steady opposition in Tibet against China and the way that the Chinese army takes down all opposition with violence, even against the peaceful demonstrations from the Buddhist monks.

Director Dirk Simon is guiding us throughout history as well as interviewing Chinese and Tibetan civilians, his holiness Dalai Lama as well as the Tibetan exile government. We get an insight in how much difference there is between Tibet and China in terms of culture, beliefs, rights and governmental treatment. The big issue is that China doesn’t acknowledge Tibet as even being a former country but claim that Tibet has always been a Chinese province that has been independent. Since the agreement, which made Tibet, a part of China was signed, the treatment has become worse and worse and the Tibetan people claim that they no longer have any rights left, a problem has been acknowledged by Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch, who claim that the situation in Tibet is getting almost unbearable.

Since the Chinese entry in Tibet the Tibetan leaders claim that about 1,2 million people have been killed by the hands of the Chinese military and civilians. The tension even between civilians in Tibet and China is what makes the situation even more inflamed. We see how demonstrators, men and women of all ages, smash into each other and fight, Tibetan people fight for their survival and the Chinese people fight for their reputation.

This sensitive subject is according has according to me been overseen by the world as a whole until now. This documentary brings light to the constant struggle between a huge corrupt dictatorship, and a little, relatively unknown and peaceful state that wants to be independent. I feel very enlightened and emotional after watching the movie and there are many questions that pops up I my mind about how this kind of treatment can exist in the world we live in today, without anyone question it?

Of course it might be so that the director has captured the true reality of the conflict but I m still wondering if it is right to just hear one side of the story and make the other side look just stupid and foolish. I fully support the Tibetan peoples wishes and their anger but I would still want to hear from the Chinese government and more from the more critical of the Tibetans. Another question mark is what Simon wants us to think after seeing the movie, since he is finishing it by asking people what they feel should be the solution. Most people argue that China has to let Tibet be totally independent while others like his holiness Dali Lama claim that Tibet should be autonomy region in China but without oppression. I wonder, what should we as viewers think and feel?