Review: Blind Shaft (盲井)

I am not sure where to start with this review. I liked Blind Shaft (盲井) a lot, but I am not sure many others will -- it showcases none of China's more exotic aspects, instead concentrating on the filthy underbelly of capitalism, and the struggles of the innocent and not-so-innocent ordinary people trying to survive and succeed in China's new system.

Frankly, it's a depressing film that will disappoint people who have preconceived notions of what China and Chinese people are like. The setting is the coal mines and nearby market towns of China's northern provinces, and most of the characters are rough miners, unscrupulous mine bosses, and prostitutes. Greed and desperation motivate everyone, but every so often softer, more touching characteristics shine through their hard exteriors. Director Li Yang and the actors very effectively tell this story. Like Li's Fifth Generation predecessors such as Zhang Yimou (张艺谋) and Tian Zhuangzhuang (藍風箏), the ending of Blind Shaft is abrupt and unexpected, and viewers are left to puzzle over questions of fate and justice.

Watching this film, I was reminded very strongly of Zhang Yimou's The Story of Qiu Ju (秋菊打官司, see Harvard Extended's review), which also featured this type of ending, and was shot in north China using techniques more common to documentary filmmakers -- the use of unstaged street scenes, natural light, and real building interiors instead of sound stages.

Other Harvard Extended reviews:

Chungking Express (重慶森林)

Grave of the Fireflies

Ju Dou (菊豆) and Blue Kite (藍風箏)