There is no substitute like the movie "Iron Road" for the connection people can feel when they watch something from the history of Chinese-Canadian ties or Canadian multiculturalism.

"Iron Road" was screened in Toronto at the National Canadian Film Day last Wednesday. The movie, a Canada-China co-production, presents history against the backdrop of a pivotal event in Canadian history: the construction of the transcontinental Canadian Pacific Railway in the 1880s.

"Iron Road", a literal translation of "railway" from Chinese into English, symbolizes the interface of the underdog lured by the "Gold Mountain" dream.

Based on the story that one Chinese girl traveled among 265 immigrants to Canada's British Columbia province, the film depicts a love story between a Chinese girl named Little Tiger and a Canadian boy James. Little Tiger, disguised as a boy, goes in search of her long-lost railroad worker father in western Canada.

In the movie, from across the sea, Chinese immigrant laborers come by the thousands to seek their fortunes in Canada. They only get one-dollar per day, but they are given the most back-breaking and dangerous work to do. They clear and grade the railway's roadbed. They blast tunnels through the rock. There are accidents, fires, and disasters. Landslides and dynamite blasts take many lives away.

However, those Chinese immigrant workers have never received the attention they deserve for constructing the railway, which stitched Canada together in its very early days to pave the way for a united and modern Canada.

It is recorded that more than 17,000 Chinese workers were recruited to build the railway at that time. Three Chinese laborers died for every mile of the railway they laid.

To an extent, "Iron Road" also taps into the rich emotional lives of a long-omitted chapter in Chinese Canadian history. It illuminates more fully than ever that the Chinese Canadian community has been present in Canada since before the Confederation and they have made great contribution to Canada.

"It is an amazing story of a cross-cultural love story set against historical facts with great shooting techniques. However, we nowadays as the young cinema professions should seek grander transnational perspectives to bring more of our stories on the big screen," Jamie Shen said in an interview with Xinhua. Jamie graduated from Queen's University Film and Media Program.

"We are deeply touched by this dramatic story of East meets West and cried for Chinese railroad workers' miserable working conditions," Amra, a sophomore from York University, told Xinhua after watching "Iron Road" with her friend Vera.

Although a slice of the "Iron Road" period is briefly mentioned in Grade 10 history class in Canada, a lot of young Canadian like Amra and her friend do not fully know the Chinese Head Tax and then Chinese laborers' sacrifices.

Both Amra and Vera have been learning Chinese for almost three years. They are passionate about Chinese culture and are preparing their speech for the provincial audition of the "Chinese Bridge" - Chinese Proficiency Competition for Foreign College Students Program, whose title is "We Are the World."

They said they hope to know more Chinese culture and help strengthen the cultural ties between China and Canada to foster the true value of multiculturalism in Canada. 

Related

Go to Forum >>0 Comment(s)