Men Who Would Conquer China, The (ATOM Study Guide)

The Men Who Would Conquer China is a very personal documentary that observes the operation of free market forces in China and by implication examines the notion of the 'victory of Capitalism'. The context of the documentary is 'new China', a nation racing toward a free market future whilst maintaining strict central control of its politics and society. The transition from a revolutionary communist state to a free market economy in a country of 1.3 billion people is slow and with it carries enormous risk. Many investors have been badly burned.

Two important social systems intersect in this documentary: western capitalism and communism as practised in the People's Republic of China (PRC) in the twenty-first century.

Mart Bakal is a millionaire New York investment banker with a mission. He's been spreading the benefits of globalisation in the former Communist world since the early 1990s. But he now wants to raise the stakes, his profile, and his fortune in the biggest market of all – the People's Republic of China. But he needs a 'cultural interpreter', so he teams up with the charismatic Vincent Lee, a successful Hong Kong entrepreneur. However, even with Vincent on board and with billions of dollars to invest, Mart finds China slow to respond to his offers, his needs and his methods.

This intimate film follows the two men through three years of their quest – through Chengdu, Chongqing, Shanghai, Beijing, Harbin, Hong Kong and New York and ultimately it is their relationship that becomes the pivotal force of the film.