A taut, biting critique on the new economic conditions in China.
A pair of murderers cover up their crimes via the archaic working conditions of coal mining in China in this award-winning psychological drama from director Li Yang. Blind Shaft centers on two men who have a grisly scheme: They persuade their victims to work in a local mine, plot their "accidental" deaths, then pose as the relatives of the dead men to collect their meager compensation. But when one of the killers starts to feel sympathy for their next victim, an ambitious young man, he listens to his conscience instead of his amoral co-conspirator. Blind Shaft won the Silver Bear at the 2003 Berlin Film Festival.
The twisted tale, told with black and bitter humour and robust language, reaches a conclusion of tortured and wholly satisfying irony.
Fresh, stark and consistently uncompromising, Li Yang's Blind Shaft is an exceptional Chinese film noir.
Engrossing because of its amazingly well-documented milieu, which German-trained writer-director Li Yang filmed on location in the northern provinces.
Makes for gripping, merciless drama.
Unfolds as fast and mercilessly as the way Song and Tang approach their victims: It sideswipes us.
Following the story is like walking down a mine shaft. Even with a weak headlamp, you kind of know where it's going, and it can't be good. But follow it you do, thanks to Yang's relentless, verite-style filmmaking.
As a thriller, it's a pretty solid affair -- and there's no getting away from how unsettling the tone is.
An auspicious first feature; although relentlessly benighted, it is nevertheless beautifully filmed and well-acted.
A descent into the hellish depths of one of those many recently privatized coal mines under China's new flirtation with the market economy.
A disturbing morality tale that questions how far one will go to survive under such conditions.
This crafty little character piece keeps you guessing. If that wasn't enough, it also gets in some social commentary.
This morality tale flows with good speed and characterizations leading to a conclusion that seems appropriate. Great story telling.
A deliberately offensive uppercut to Chinese moral significance by a new director of the post-generation X of China.The near thriller elements of Blind Shaft are the heartbeat of his research.I'd normally accuse the script's tendency to drama but the acting is stellar and the unexpected finale events are as ironic as any Coen Brothers "dramedy" film.