Slogans plastered across urban spaces preach hard work as a means to a greater quality of life, mantras not unfamiliar to those of us in the West. Their faces are accompanied by an ominous score from composer Dan Deacon. Kingdon’s imagery meanwhile gives the impression of spontaneity but communicates loudly who the beneficiaries and the victims are of relentless industrial growth. On a broader scale, “Ascension” stands as a spiritual cousin to Rahul Jain’s “ Machines,” an Indian film about the exploitation of poor individuals in a textile factory, but with its sights set upwards as it tracks the different layers of the Chinese social strata. As engrossing as it’s alarming, the documentary flows with a stream of consciousness about the illusion of the “Chinese Dream.” Without blunt commentary other than the subtext Kingdon instills through the curation of the material, and some candid remarks of anonymous subjects, "Ascension" ruminates on many places of employment and career-advancement programs.
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