Movie Review – When the Dragon Swallowed the Sun (2010)

In When the Dragon Swallowed the Sun, a noble endeavour that feels less so as it slowly reveals the machinations of a biased agenda, the same point is reiterated until time begins to drag. Told against the backdrop of the 2008 Beijing Olympics, the message is that Tibet’s struggle to win independence from China is mired in helplessness. But it’s something that anyone with a basic knowledge of the conflict would already know. Worst of all, we know this injustice is something to be outraged about, but writer/director Dirk Simon wants to spend much of his doc’s running time trying to convince us of little else, failing to realise that he doesn’t need to.

More often than not, When the Dragon Swallowed the Sun feels like a promotional video for Free Tibet. ‘Trendy’ musicians like Thom Yorke feature on the soundtrack, playing over images of atrocity and despair like it’s a Comic Relief segment, while Philip Glass provides the predictably overwrought score, the kind that loudly tells you when to cry or feel angry.

The film compromises its own argument this way – even the most biased of political documentaries tend to try disguising their leanings with a veil of professionalism and objectivity. But When the Dragon Swallowed the Sun often feels like it’s trying to recruit rather than inform or educate you. Worse still, it vilifies not only the Chinese government, but the Chinese people on the whole.

It’s all a bit ugly, for those responsible for the picture to boil the debate down to an uncomplicated Tibet = good, China = bad (even Tibet’s violent methods of revolution are excused). It’s too simplistic, especially when China has internal problems of its own, with citizen and state clashes proving that individuality does exist there. It’s ironic that When the Dragon Swallowed the Sun is closer to propaganda in this way.

Problems abound in When the Dragon Swallowed the Sun, but the worst is that it leaves nary a lasting impression. It’s uninteresting to look at, with no real narrative intelligence – there’s no definable beginning, middle or end, no three acts, just a long, unenlightening two hours. Instead, the film asks the same question again and again: “What will become of Tibet?” The answers are vague and uncertain. As a result, you’re left with a rather one-note documentary, and an unfortunate missed opportunity.