WINNER: SILVER BEAR - BERLIN INT’L FILM FESTIVAL 2003 (Best Artistic Contribution – Li Yang – For Screenwriting and Directing)
WINNER: BEST FILM, BEST DIRECTOR, BEST ACTOR (WANG BAOQIANG), AUDIENCE AWARD & CRITICS PRIZE – DEAUVILLE ASIAN FILM FESTIVAL 2003
WINNER – BEST NARRATIVE FEATURE - TRIBECA FILM FESTIVAL 2003
WINNER – FILM AND LITERATURE AWARD - FILM BY THE SEA FESTIVAL 2003
WINNER – GRAND PRIZE - BERGEN INTERNATIONAL FILM FESTIVAL 2003
WINNER – Silver Giraldillo (best scriptwriter and director) - Festival de Sevilla, Cine y Deporte 2003
WINNER – BEST DIRECTOR IFF BRATISLAVA INTERNATIONAL FILM FESTIVAL 2003
WINNER – SILVER FIREBIRD AWARD – HONG KONG INTERNATIONAL FILM FESTIVAL 2003
WINNER – BEST CINEMATOGRAPHY (and two other awards) - BUENOS AIRES INTERNATIONAL FILM FESTIVAL 2003
SPECIAL COMMENDATION: THE GUARDIAN NEW DIRECTOR’S AWARD – EDINBURGH INTERNATIONAL FILM FESTIVAL 2003
WINNER - BEST ADAPTED SCREENPLAY, BEST NEWCOMER (WANG BAOQIANT) - GOLDEN HORSE INTERNATIONAL COMPETITION 2003
WINNER – BEST ACTOR (WANG BAOQIANG, WANG SHUANGBAO, LI YIXIANG)
‘BLIND SHAFT’ 盲井 (‘Mang Jing’) Director – Li Yang
Starring - Li Yixiang, Wang Shuangbao, Wang Baoqiang ‘BLIND SHAFT’
(‘MANG JING’)
SYNOPSIS
A modern fable of greed, murder and innocence set in the illegal coal mines of Northern Chi- na…
One clear winter morning, in one of the many poorly equipped coal mines in Northern China, Song Jinming and Tang Chaoyang begin another day of hard work with Tang’s brother Chaolu who has arrived only a few days ago. In the depths of a mineshaft suddenly Song and Tang struck Chaolu with a pickaxe and kill him. They make the mine collapse and then escape from the ‘accident’ unscathed. While pretending to lament the death of his brother, Tang and Song threaten to report the incident to the local government and police, in order to ex- tort compensation monies from the mine owner. Fearing exposure of the mine’s illegal operations, the mine owner finally give in to their demands. After lea- ving and sending their loot home, the partners start scouting for another ‘relati- ve’.
At the local train station which is full of itinerant job-seekers, Tang find another potential victim – a sixteen-year-old peasant boy from the countryside – Yuan Fengming. Yuan’s father has left home to work at the mines but never returned. Yuan therefore has no choice but to quit school and find work himself. Tang agrees to help Yuan find a job and introduce him to the mine owners under one condition – he must agree to pretend to be Song’s nephew.
However, Song believes that Yuan, being a child, should not be killed as this is ‘not the right thing to do’ in this line of ‘business’. He disagrees with Tang but soon relents upon Tang’s insistence, and the plan is carried forward. Yet Song tries to concoct a diversion to ‘qualify’ Yuan as a victim. The relationship between the partners is gradually transformed by Yuan’s innocence. In the last minute, the partners’ scheme takes an unexpected turn…
ABRIDGED SYNOPSIS
Two greedy men plot the murder of a 16-year-old peasant boy in a poorly-e- quipped coal mine in Northern China. Pretending the boy is a relative, they count on extorting money from the mine owner after the boy's "accidental" death. But the boy's innocence creates tension and unexpected twists in the murderous mineworkers' scheme ... ‘BLIND SHAFT’
(‘MANG JING’)
DIRECTOR’S STATEMENT / PRODUCTION NOTES
In order to make ‘Blind Shaft’ my crew and I experienced a lot of difficulties, including ha- ving to risk our lives at times. Now the film is finally finished, but to me the dangers are still here. This film will be banned from being released in China, and I will face the unfortunate destiny of being banned from making a film in China. Many friends asked me, why must I risk my life to make a film like this?
‘Blind Shaft’ is a film that realistically portrays the lives of the coal miners at the bottom stra- tum of the Chinese society today. Employing a documentary-like cinematic style, it simply and directly pushes the lives of theseordinary people in front of the audience. There are no deliberate melodramas or dramatization. It just portrays a real story.
After the modernization and opening of China, thousands of private coal mines have appea- red. This is originally a good thing, but has turned into many coal miners’ nightmare. The safety precautions and facilities in these private coal mines do not meet the basic safety requi- rements set by the government. The mine owners do not spend money on buying the neces- sary safety equipment, but rather use huge sums of money to bribe the party cadres and go- vernment bureaucrats, in order to obtain the various permits needed to operate the mines. These bureaucrats totally disregard the lives of the miners in these transactions of money andpower. The miners work in extremely dangerous conditions and they use very primitive mining methods. They use iron pickaxes and spades for digging, and horse carriages for transporting the coal. There are almost no modern equipment and there is no protection and guarantee for the the lives of the miners at all.
In 2001, a major accident involving a collapsed mine in Nante in the Guangxi Province resul- ted in the death of more than forty miners. But the mine owner managed to secretly cremate and bury theremains of the miners under the help and support of the local government, party chiefs and police department. This incident was subsequently exposed by two brave and con- scientious reporters. But this is only one of the countless stories in China today. According to statistics, an average of more than 7,000 coal miners die each year in accidents. But these are only official figures. Many more deaths go unreported and unnoticed.
In the last twenty years, China has undergone major changes. Its economy has been growing with rapid speed. But following the economic miracle the polarization of the Chinese society has also widened seriously. The livelihood of the people in the lower strata of society has become worse and worse. Driven by poverty, tens ofthousands of peasants leave their homes to find work elsewhere. Seduced by money, moral standards rapidly deteriorate and corrup- tion is rampant. In order to obtain money, those in power are corrupt, while those without power
‘BLIND SHAFT’
(‘MANG JING’)
DIRECTOR’S STATEMENT/PRODUCTION NOTES sell their bodies and soul, or kill and steal. Under the pressure of heavy duties and taxes, ma- ny peasants can hardly make a living by growing crops. Many children have to stop going to school and start working because they cannot pay the school fees. But the dark reality of the- se social conditions have been deliberately covered up. The lives of these people living in the bottom strata have been totally neglected and forgotten.
On television and newspapers, all people can see are just the big achievements of the develo- ping Chinese economy. But who is there to care about people: human sentiments, the souls and mind of the people, and social morality? Who cares about this huge mass of people struggling at the lowest stratum of the Chinese society?
In order to make this film, I searched and visited many coal mines across almost half of Chi- na. One time, soon after I took a few pictures with my camera, I was immediately sur- rounded by the mine owner and the police. I was very nervous as they had guns in their hands, and they threatened to take me away. Luckily one of my friends was also a local cadre and he lied to say that I was only a tourist and not a reporter. Only then did I manage to es- cape danger. After I went back to Beijing I was told that the local government officials called for an emergency meeting to deal with my case. They considered me a reporter and were very worried that I would expose many of their shady dealings. My friend was thereafteralso implicated. Perhaps, particularly because of the fact that my life was threatened myself, that I made the resolution to finish this film and to tell the truth to the audience. Even though I faced further dangers, my human conscience kept me on.
Any country needs to promote its bright and glorious side. But is it not true that the exposi- tion and critique of the dark and ugly sides of human nature and society can in fact promote progress and development of the society even more?
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Excerpt from an Interview with the Director by South China Morning Post, Hong Kong 18.1.2003
At least 10,000 people die each year in China’s illegal mines. Now a film is shedding light on the labourers who risk everything to scrape a living in the dark
“China has a shortage of everything but people,” the boss of an illegal coal mine quips in a new underground film exposing the grim lives of the mainland’s migrant miners. Millions of uneducated labourers roam the country looking for work. For mine owners, the migrants are an expendable resource. Many risk death in illegal mines for a monthly wage of 1,000 yuan (HK$940), several times the average monthly income of farm workers.
… Those real conditions mean living in cramped dormitories,with workers often housed in crude huts or tents. In arid northern China, miners sometimes go for weeks without washing, Li says. Anyone fit enough for hard labour, including escaped criminals, can find work in illegal mines – if they can find them. Mine owners often hire local thugs to guard tracks lea- ding to the mines and local police and officials accept money to turn a blind eye or even offer additional protection. Extortion and robbery are common. “This problem hasn’t just appea- red in the past few years,” Li says. “It’s been around for a long time.”
… Most of the filming took place 700 metres underground on the border between Hebei and Shaanxi provinces. Li is unwilling to be more precise about the location, to protect those who helped him gainaccess. He and his team were well aware of the dangers. One shaft col- lapsed two days after they left, without finishing filming. They simply moved on to the next mine, just like the casual labourers who make a living from hacking out the coal. Localsoften refuse to work underground, preferring the safety of jobs as security guards or surface wor- kers. Li went underground about 20 times last year, clocking up about 80 hours in dark shafts. He spent 50 hours filming underground, with one stint lasting20 hours.
… State media has also reported cases of murder, greed and corruption in the illegal mining industry, including one case in which miners were killed by locals who then faked an explo- sion in a bid to claim compensation. Relatives are often prevented from seeing the bodies of victims. Mine owners dispose of the corpses without informing local authorities, fearing clo- sure of their illegal operations.
The government has launched several crackdowns on illegal mining in recent years. It says safety inspectors close tens of thousands of small mines annually, but many re-open after the inspectors and police have left. Beijing Review magazine recently reported: “Mine safety su- pervisors at different levels are mainly from coal mines with a poor awareness of the law, which causes laxity in law enforcement, errors in procedures and unsatisfactory punishment.”
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Excerpt from an Interview with the Director by South China Morning Post, Hong Kong 18.1.2003
Where the closure succeed, competition for jobs in the remaining mines grows fiercer, Li be- lieves the publication of Liu’s story (on which Li’s film was based) two years ago, plus recent media exposure of the industry, makes the topic of illegal mining less controversial. The film is not opposing China, Chinese society or the government, he says. “I’m sure Western audi- ences won’t think everyone in China is like that. But I couldn’t make it according to their rules,” he says, mainly because he wanted to save time and money. “If it was just like buying clothes
Bill Jones, South China Morning Post
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CAST 宋金明 李易祥 Song Jinming Li Yixiang
唐朝阳 王双宝 Tang Zhaoyang Wang Shuangbao
元凤鸣 王宝强 Yuan Fengming Wang Baoqiang
小红 安静 Xiao Hong An Jing
黄矿长 鲍振江 Boss Huang Bao Zhenjiang
唐朝霞 孙伟 Tang Zhaoxia Sun Wei
马大姐 赵俊芝 Miss Ma Zhao Junzhi
妓院老板 王艺凝 Mamasan Wang Yining
老李 刘振起 Lao Li Liu Zhenqi
服务员 张露露 Waitress Zhang Lulu
小芳 李艳 Xiao Fang Li Yan
小丽 赵红 Xiao Li Zhao Hong
王矿长 聂伟华 BossWang Nie Weihua 穆洁 曹阳 Mu Jie Cao Yang
售票员 简成文 Ticket Seller Jian Chengwen
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CAST
歌厅老板 智磊 Karaoke Maneger Zhi Lei
安全检查员 韩朝阳 Safey Inspector Han Chaoyang
司机 岳森谊 Driver Yue Senyi
保镖甲 张宏强 Guard 1 Zhang Hongqiang
保镖乙 毛永安 Guard 2 Mao Yongan
保镖丙 孙勤岑 Guard 3 Sun Qincen
保镖丁 赵军 Guard 4 Zhao Jun
雇主 孙含义 Employer Sun Hanyi
妓女甲 吴海曼 Prostitute 1 Wu Haiman
妓女乙 徐鑫 Prostitute 2 Xu Xin
妓女丙 曹丽 Prostitute 3 Cao Li
火化工 董治美 Incinerator Staff Dong Zhimei
‘BLIND SHAFT’
(‘MANG JING’)
CREW
编剧导演，制片 李杨 Screenplay/Direcctor/Producer Li Yang
改编自刘庆邦小说‘神木’ Adapted from the novel “Shenmu” by Liu Qingbang
联合制片 胡晓叶 Associate Producer Hu Xiaoye 李桦 Li Hua 制片主任 高华 Line Producer Gao Hua
策划 花清 陆威 Production Consultants Hua Qing Lu Wei
摄影指导 刘永宏 Director of Photography Liu Yonghong
录音 Sound Recordist Wang Yu
美术指导 杨军 Art Director Yang Jun
剪接 李杨 卡尔。李德 Editor Li Yang Karl Riedl
化装 吕永梅 Make Up Artist Lu Yongmei
服装 王晓艳 Costume Designer Wang Xiaoyan
道具 刘敬之 Set Designer Zhang Jianjun
副导演 鲍振江 Assistant Director Bao Zhenjiang 阿龙 Ah Long
场记 张露 Script Supervisor Zhang Lu ‘BLIND SHAFT’
(‘MANG JING’)
CREW 副摄影 傅杰 Focus Puller Fu Jie
摄影助理 曹广雨 Camera Assistants Cao Guangyu 毛永安 Mao Yongan
机械员 田国华 Mechanical Engineer Tian Guohua
副录音 赵军 Assistant Sound Recordist Zhao Jun 申策 Shen Ce
灯光助理 张旭生 Lighting Assistant Zhang Xusheng 韩朝阳 Han Chaoyang 赵永涛 Zhao Yongtao 孙勤岑 Sun Qincen
外联制片 岳森谊 张宏生 Production Assistants Yue Senyi Zhang Hongsheng 小聂 小飞 Xiao Nie Xiao Fei
後期制片 李俊 Post Production Supervisor Li Jun
剪辑助理 赵雪蕾 Assistant Film Editor Zhao Xuelei
混合录音 徐辉 赵楠 Sound Mixer Xu Hui Zhao Nan
配光 Olivier Fontenay Grading
拟音 刘万福 Sound Effects Liu Wanfu
英文字幕 English Subtitles Jonathan Noble
‘BLIND SHAFT’
(‘MANG JING’)
CREW
German Subtitles Zhao Jie
Laser Subtitles Holland Subtitling
Post Production Sound Key Point Digital Studio
Film Processing Atlab Australia Pty Limited 洗印公司 Cinevex Film Laboratories Pty Limited
Negative Matcher Chris Rowell Productions Pty 套底公司 Limited
Graphic Design Shya-La-La Workshop
Title Sequence End Credits Mandarin Laboratory (International) Li- mited
国际发行 Worldwide Distribution The Film Library
CREDIT BLOCK
LI YANG PRESENTS A LI YANG AND TANG SPLENDOUR FILMS LI- MITED PRODUCTION “BLIND SHAFT” IN ASSOCIATION WITH BRONZE AGE FILMS PTY. LIMITED - LI YIXIANG, WANG SHUANGBAO, WANG BAOQIANG, AN JING – SCREENPLAY BY LI YANG – ADAPTED FROM AN ORIGINAL NOVEL “SHENMU” BY LIU QINGBANG -DIRECTOR OF PHOTO- GRAPHY LIU YONGHONG – SOUND RECORDIST WANG YU – ART DIREC- TOR YANG JUN – EDITOR LI YANG, KARL RIEDL – ASSISTANT DIRECTOR BAO ZHENJIANG – PRODUCTION CONSULTANTS HUA QING, LU WEI - LI- NE PRODUCER GAO HUA– ASSOCIATE PRODUCERS HU XIAOYE, LI HUA – PRODUCER LI YANG – DIRECTED BY LI YANG INTERNATIONAL DISTRIBUTION – THE FILM LIBRARY
‘BLIND SHAFT’
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CREW BIOGRAPHY/FILMOGRAPHY
Director: Li Yang
Li Yang was born in Xian in China in 1959. He came from a family of actors andgrew up in a threatre complex. After leaving highschool he went to work as an actor at the China Youth Arts Theatre in Beijing from 1978-1985. Li then studied film directing at the Beijing Broadcasting Institute from 1985-1987. He then left to study German literature from 1988-1990 at the Free University of Berlin, and Dramatic Theory at Ludwig-Maxmillian University of Munich from 1990-92. During this time Li also worked as an actor for German TV. After graduating he went on to study Film Directing at the Academy of Media Arts in Cologne from 1992-1995. While at the Academy he wrote and directed several documentaries – ‘Women’s Kingdom’ (1991), ‘Happy Swan Song’ (1994), and ‘The Wake’ (1996) which was completed after his graduation.
In 2003, he wrote, directed and produced his first feature ‘Blind Shaft’ which was shot entirely in China. The film won the Silver Bear Award at the Berlin International Film Festival 2003 for Artistic Contribution (Screenwriting and Directing). It has gone on to win many other awards internationally such as Best Best at the Tribeca Film Festival in New York, five out of all six awards at the Deauville Asian Film Festival including Best Film, Best Director, Best Actor, Silver Firebird Award in Hong Kong etc and has gone on to win over 20 other awards around the world. Li Yang is now widely regarded as one of the most talented new directors in China now.
FILMOGRAPHY
1991 ‘Women’s Kingdom’ (documentary) 1994 ‘Happy Swan Song’ (documentary) 1996 ‘The Wake’ (documentary) 2003 ‘Blind Shaft’
‘BLIND SHAFT’
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TECHNICAL/CONTACT DETAILS
Technical Details
Original Title: "MANG JING” Country of Origin: Germany / Hong Kong, China Language: Mandarin Length: 92 minutes / 9005 ft / 5 reels Ratio: 1:1.85** Sound: Dolby SR Color: Color Year completed: 2003
** For current festival screenings please double-check that when projected the subtitles will not be too low and close to the bottom edge (due to the way the current subtitles have been printed on the print). Sometimes projection at 1:1.85 will result in the top of the picture being cut off if not adjusted properly.
International Distribution/Print Source: International Press The Film Library Berlin: Richard Lormand 2010 West 29th Street and Viviana Andriani Los Angeles CA 90018 Mobile : (33-6) 09 49 79 25 USA Email: [email protected] Tel: (1-310) 603 8748 Fax: (1-310) 362 8890 Email:[email protected]
Also at: Suite 402, 5-8 Queen Victoria Street Central Hong Kong Tel: (852) 2594 0220 Fax: (852) 3012 1578 Attn: Alexandra Sun
‘BLIND SHAFT’
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REVIEWS / PRESS CLIPPINGS
SCREEN INTERNATIONAL Blind Shaft (Mang Jing) Lee Marshall in Berlin 18 February 2003
Dir: Li Yang. China-Ger. 2003. 92 mins.
For most festival-goers at Berlin, the two first-time directors in competition were George Clooney and an unknown Chinese director. In the end, however, it was the latter who won the recognition, for Li Yang ’s Blind Shaft is a solid, impressive debut. A watchable, character-driven thriller set in the as-yet unex- plored cinematic territory of the Chinese coalmining industry, it makes up in panache and performance what it lacks in technical gloss. Director Yi, who al- so produced, scripted and co-edited the film, picked up a well-deserved Silver Bear for Best Artistic Contribution at the festival. This was followed by the an- nouncement that Yi’s next film, set against the background of China’s Cultural Revolution, would be co-financed by French, German and Italian partners. A strong arthouse breakout contender, Blind Shaft can expect to add a raft of territories to the deals that have already been inked.
The intro is a bravura piece of film-making that introduces the audience to the start of a mine shaft somewhere in northern China.There is no dialogue, only the menacing hum of heavy machinery, as two miners share a hasty cigarette and a quick glance of understanding before heading down the shaft, where faces are fleetingly and sha- kily illuminated by head-torches. Thus far, the audience expect a piece of Loachian social realism in Hong Kong-style, so what comes next is doubly shocking.
Song and Tang, the cigarette-sharers, take a pickaxe to the head of a third miner, a kid barely out of his teens who has been presented as Tang’s brother. Simulating a tunnel collapse, they go to the mine owner to demand compensation for the boy’s family. Not wishing to risk an inquiry into the pit’s non-existent safety features, the owner pays up. And the two go off to town with the money to eat, whore, and pick up another young job-seeker who is promised good money in the mining industry - as long as he pretends to be Song’s nephew.
It is no spoiler to reveal this much: the story’s real interest begins at this point in, as Song starts to feel protective towards the latest sacrificial victim, and the moral anaesthetic that makes the scam possible begins to wear off.
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REVIEWS / PRESS CLIPPINGS
Set on the ramshackle, unregulated edge of the New China’s economic boom, Blind Shaft is filmed in a laconic, non-judgmental style that suits the material well. Tightly edited, the whole thing appears to have been filmed on the run, in markets and bus stations, and in the few mines where Ying got permission to shoot. The only music is a bawdy version of a Chinese communist anthem sung karaoke-style in a brothel. But the film’s stylistic austerity is offset by the richness of its character development.
Song and Yang are likeable rogues who go about their murderous business as if it were a job like any other; they are also great friends, we come to realise, and the sa- crifice of the lamb that intrudes on the relationship becomes a kind of test. Another great merit is the film’s unblinking, though not unsympathetic, gaze at the plight of the underclass in today’s China, a country which, as one mine owner quips, "has a shortage of everything but people".
Prod co: Li Yang and Tang Splendour Films Limited Production, Bronze Age Films Int’l sales: The Film Library Prod: Li Yang Scr: Li Yang, from the novel Shenmu by Liu Qingbang Cinematography: Liu Yonghong Prod des: Yang Jun Ed: Li Yang, Karl Riedl Main cast: Li Yixiang, Wang Shuangbao, Wang Baoqiang, An Jing, Bao Zhenjiang, Zhao Junzhi
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REVIEWS / PRESS CLIPPINGS
Variety Review
Blind Shaft Mang Jing (Germany-Hong Kong)
A Li Yang presentation of a Li Yang Filmworkshop (Germany)/Tang Splen- dour Films (Hong Kong) production, in association with Bronze Age Films. (International sales: The Film Library, L.A./H.K.) Produced, directed, writ- ten by Li Yang, based on the novel "Sacred Wood" (Shen mu) by Liu Qingbang.
Song Jinming - Li Yixiang Tang Zhaoyang - Wang Shuangbao Yuan Fengming - Wang Baoqiang Xiao Hong - An Jing Huang - Bao Zhenjiang Miss Ma - Zhao Junzhi
By DEREK ELLEY A gray, grittily realistic drama centered on two murderers in Chi- na's illegal coal-mining community, "Blind Shaft" has a low-key power that comes as much from its off-handed approach to the dark material as from any manipulative techniques. Film announ- ces a promising talent in writer-director Li Yang, 43, who directed several docus while studying in Germany, and shot this first featu- re under the official radar in his homeland. Festival kudos in both Berlin and Tribeca could attract not only TV sales, but also specia- lized distrib interest. In the cold, gray-blue light of an early winter morning, in an arid region of northern China, workers descending into one of the country's many illegal mines include weathered, stone-faced Tang Zhaoyang (Wang Shuangbao) and younger-looking, bearded Song Jinming (Li Yixiang), along with Tang's brother, Chaolu. In the dimly-lit corridors below ground, where sa- fety measures are almost non-existent and accidents are common, Tang and Song beat the third man to death and fake a small cave-in.
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REVIEWS / PRESS CLIPPINGS
Panicking over an official inquiry, the mine's young head eventually agre- es to pay Tang and Song if they sign a document clearing the mine of any blame and immediately pack their bags. The duo's clever, negotiating techniques establish the film's oblique approach to its potentially hor- rifying subject-matter. Tang and Song are, in fact, ruthless killers who've hit on a way to exploit such mines' illegal status by picking up migratory workers and presenting them as "relatives" before murdering them. The two zero in on a naive, 16-year-old kid looking for work and expertly reel him into their next deadly scam. The son of a peasant who left home to work as a miner, Yuan Fengming (Wang Baoqiang) has quit school to make some money so he can look for his father, who's gone missing. He's persuaded to pose as Song's 18-year-old nephew and sign on with them at an illegal mine. It's at this point the picture playsits ace card, taking time to show what looks like a real relationship developing between the three as Tang and Song introduce the naive teen to the real world -- in- cluding a gently comic sequence in which they get the nervous kid laid with a prostie (An Jing) -- and Yuan himself develops a filial affection for his two "saviors." As the day of Yuan's death draws near, Song starts to have doubts about killing such a young lad, especially after he discovers a surprise piece of information. Twist ending is blackly ironic. Film's tone is so laid back, and the perfs by Wang Shuangbao and Li so natural as the two murderers, that it's sometimes easy to forget about the true horror of what is being shown on screen. Shot in a style not dis- similar to Jia Zhangke's "Xiao Wu," with a totally convincing feel for eve- ryday life in China's marginal communities, the film doesn't openly crusa- de against the iniquities of illegal mines but rather presents it as self-con- tained world with its own frontier rules participants accept. (In fact, the publication two years ago of the novel on which script is based did much to bring the problem out into the open in China.) Casting is excellent, with Wang Shuangbao especially good as the more callous but still avuncular Tang, and Wang Baoqiang nicely underplayed as the ingenuous Yuan. Blowup from Super-16 is good, with the slightly grainy look and cold co- lors adding to the atmosphere. Pic was shot in various remote, dusty loca- tions around the border between Hebei and Shaanxi provinces, with exact geography deliberately left vague. Helmer Li, who was born in Xi'an, Chi- na, but holds a German passport from his time spent studying in the country, put much of his own money into the production, as well as ‘BLIND SHAFT’
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making the pic through an H.K.-registered company, thus avoiding Main- land filmmaking regulations.
Camera (color), Liu Yonghong; editors, Li, Karl Riedl; production designer, Yang Jun; art director, Zhang Jianjun; costume designer, WangXiaoyan; sound (Dolby SR), Wang Yu, Xu Hui, Zhao Nan, Olivier Fontenay; associa- te producers, Hu Xiaoye, Li Hua; assistant director, Bao Zhenjiang. Re- viewed at Berlin Film Festival (competing), Feb. 12, 2003. (Also in Tribeca Film Festival.) Running time:92 MIN. (Mandarin dialogue)
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The Guardian (11/3/03):
Going underground
By Xan Brooks
Li Yang is an underground film-maker, literally and figuratively. His debut feature, Blind Shaft, plays out in the subterranean world of China's priva- tely owned coal mines: Li hoisted a handheld camera through tunnels that honeycomb the remote Shanxi province. He used "back-door connections" with local bureaucrats to gain access to the mines, bribing owners and dodging outraged foremen. But because Blind Shaft bypassed the wider authorities and was shot without government permission, it officially does not exist within China. The film is banned and its director is regarded as an outcast. An article in a Beijing newspaper recently referred to him as "that black man, Li Yang".
The 43-year-old has spent the past year accompanying his film on the festival circuit. This whistle-stop tour has shuttled him between Sarajevo, Seattle, Buenos Aires, New York, Edinburgh and Berlin (where Blind Shaft won the Silver Bear award). When I meet him, he's standing in his hotel lobby trying to discover where his suitcase might be. His luggage, it tran- spires, has been lost in transit.
Effectively stateless, Li keeps an office in Hong Kong and an apartment in Germany. "You could say that I'm a German director if you want," he says ruefully. "Or you could say I'm using that identity to wander about with. Either way, I don't think I have a future in China. They don't have a very good impression of me there."
You can see why. Part morality play, part social-realist exposé, Blind Shaft paints a grim picture of China's rush towards capitalism. Coal provides the country's main energy source; its mining industry is the biggest in the world. But a vast proportion of these mines are unregulated and illegal. When the inspectors close them down, the owners simply move their ope- ration a few miles up the road. They are helped both by
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the local authorities (who depend on the tax revenue they generate) and the surfeit of migrant labourers willing to work for a pittance. "Take it or leave it," one foreman informs Li's characters. "The only thing that China doesn't have a shortage of is people." It is estimated that around 7,000 workers die each year in unregulated mines.
Li has had a few near misses himself. Two shafts collapsed during the film's production. On the first occasion he was outside, preparing for the day's shoot. On the second he was shooting below ground, and two wor- kers were killed. In the ensuing panic, the foreman showed up bran- dishing a gun and threatening to shoot the entire crew. "That was the most frightening moment of all, because I was worried that we mightnot get out alive.
"After the second shaft collapsed, the owner simply refused to let us continue filming. We are very superstitious in China. They thought that we were bringing bad luck on the mine." In the end, Li simply took his lead from the bosses' own technique. He abandoned the mine, alerted the local bureaucrats and upped sticks to a fresh location.
But then Li seems adept at making himself a moving target. Brought up in a theatre complex, he started out acting on television; both his parents had been successful actors. However, they urged him to take a different route. "My mother in particular wanted me to be anything but an actor, so my relationship with her was a little strained for a while." What was her objection? "Well, my father was actuallyquite a famous actor in China, and they made life very difficult for him. This was back in the 1970s, at the end of the Cultural Revolution. Back then it was very dangerous to be in the arts." He smiles. "They put him in jail and beat him up, and he pas- sed away because of that. He was about the same age that I am now." I am nodding like an idiot, quite shell-shocked by this casual little anecdo- te. And what does his mother think of Blind Shaft? "Oh she's proud," he says. "She hasn't seen it, because it hasn't been shown in China. But she's proud."
If nothing else, this pedigree makes him a vivid symbol for China itself– a land with one foot in its Maoist past and the other in a fraught capitalist
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REVIEWS / PRESS CLIPPINGS present. The split is reflected in one of Blind Shaft's most telling scenes, in which the miners gather at a brothel to sing communist anthems at a karaoke machine. Li explains that nearly all his cast were non-professio- nals, plucked from the local economies. The miners didn't mind being in- volved in the film, he insists, so long as it didn't interrupt their work. "Most of them seemed amused by having us around. They had a good sense of humour, and a sort of magnanimous view of the world in general. Thereis a word we have in China called 'renming'. It means being sangui- ne. Accepting one's fate."
Interview over, Li drops by the lobby to make a further inquiry about his missing suitcase. Afterwards he smiles, shrugs, then strolls outside to ha- ve his photo snapped. Obviously some of that renming has rubbed off on him, too.
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Here is one of the best films of the year. You don't generally expect a Chinese movie to be an edge-of-the-seat experience, but this terrific feature from first-time writer-director Li Yang upends your expectations. Part psychological thriller, part acute study of the itinerant poor in northern China, it's like a cross between Alfred Hitchcock and Chinese director Jia Zhang- Ke.… - Peter Bradshaw, THE GUARDIAN
Mining a rich seam : Dirty deeds are afoot in Li Yang's glittering masterpiece set in a Chine- se coalmine. … In the movies, as in life, coalminers have always been seen as men of great decency. From G.W. Pabst's Kameradschaft, where French colliers collaborate with their former German enemies in a mining disaster on the Franco-German border immediately after the First World War, to Ken Loach's masterly The Price of Coal, people are drawn together and communities shaped by the dangers and ill-paid, back-breaking labour of work in the pits. For this reason, the opening of Blind Shaft, the first feature film by the Chinese documentarist Li Yang, is like being hit in the face with a shovel. [...] Back in 1989, Zhang Yimou made anoir thriller, Ju Dou, a subtle, visually beautifully movie set in the 1920s and virtually a take on James M. Cain's The Postman Always Rings Twice. The Chinese authorities promptly banned it and they've done the same to the altogether darker, grittierBlind Shaft. One of the year's most gripping movies, it combines the excitements of The Sting and Double Indemnity, while at the same time taking a visceral, documentary-style look at the horrors and injustices of the new China strung out between communism and capitalism. As in the recent Iranian heist mo- vie, Crimson Gold, crime here operates like a surgeon's contrast medium, injected into the social blood stream to illuminate the body politic. - Philip French, THE OBSERVER
A haunting parable of greed and deception in rural China, acclaimed at the Berlin Film Festi- val. … One of the most remarkable debuts of the year, this gritty psychological drama plays like a vintage Patricia Highsmith thriller - pitiless, implacable and utterly gripping. A dark delight. … It is as pitiless a vision of human greed and fallibility as has ever been brought to the screen … few on-screen murders in recent years have come as so sudden or so shocking a surprise … watching, you sense the noise and stink of hard labour, and the sweaty unease of guilty souls. Implacable, utterly gripping, it's one of the finest films of the year. EDINBURGH INTERNATIONAL FILM FESTIVAL (UK)
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REVIEWS / PRESS CLIPPINGS Li Yang mixes his instincts as a documentarianwith keen insights into character ... Not only does this auspicious feature debut expose conditions in China's mines, but the move is an even greater condemnation of the casual criminality that has supplanted doctrinaire commu- nism in that country ... In arelationship between an innocent youth and two venal murderers, Li Yang finds startling dramatic truths, reminiscent of the Italian neo-realist films that emer- ged from the moral chaos of postwar Italy ... Well-acted and well-produced ... A quiet though searing indictment of contemporary China ... Kirk Honeycutt, THE HOLLYWOOD REPORTER
Blisteringly self-critical ... A grimly funny tale of two coalmining con-men who stage acci- dents to defraud pit bosses of compensation money ... Boldly hits out at Chinese bureaucracy, Chinese corruption, Chinese safety procedures, Chinese persecution of workers ... Nigel Andrews, FINANCIAL TIMES (UK)
Stark, brutal and frequently hilarious, this blackly comic fable is not to be missed. Jamie Russell, TOTAL FILM (UK)
Makes a devastating impact. Alan Morrison EMPIRE (UK)
Strong film from young new director ... S.F. Said, DAILY TELEGRAPH (UK)
Director Li Yang takes his camera deep into China's dangerous illegal coal mines to show the conflict between traditional values and rampant commercialism in the powerful drama BLIND SHAFT ... Like the tunnels and shafts where the miners work and die, Li's China is a country where old ways are being eroded and replaced by the relentless pursuit of a quick buck, no matter what the human cost ... A parable of modern China and shows a country where everything can be bought and sold, including the lives of people forced to work down the pits .... Clifford Coonan, REUTERS (UK)
In his first film, BLIND SHAFT, Li Yang plunges deep into the coal mines of China, where when one digs hour after hour to earn just enough to send one's son to school, life is reduced to so little that nothing seems to cruel when it comes to money ... Marie-Therese Delboulbes, AGENCE FRANCE PRESSE (France)
BLIND SHAFT won the most acclaim from critics at the Berlin Film Festival for its realistic portrayal of the bleak life facing China's new working poor ... Andrew McCathie, DEUTSCHE PRESSE-AGENTUR (Germany) ‘BLIND SHAFT’
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Li Yang observes in detail the world of the miners, without putting on gloves to describe the perverse effects of modernization in China. He shows us a capitalism gone wild where the lowest of the social class are greedy for work, money, sex and a little happiness. The compas- sion which they are no longer capable of is awakened in us by the sight of their misery ... Martin Rosefeldt, ARTE.COM (Germany/France)
BLIND SHAFT deserves a prize ... Directed with little means and lots of mastery ... Jean-Luc Wachthausen, LE FIGARO (France)
Hits hard with lots of courage ... The atrocity of the subject is not speculation at black humor ... The strength of the hard-hitting truth of this noteworthy film is intensified by the simplicity of the Li Yang's direction ... A film of exemplary dare, a true subversive metaphor ... A. Fernandez Santos, EL PAIS (Spain)
A praiseworthy and risky effort to inform about the miserable and desperate conditions in China ... The result is thematically admirable ... Diego Vazquez, LA BUTACA (Spain)
The best film of the day ... A heartbreaking drama ... Nuria Vidal, FOTGRAMAS (Spain)
Director Li Yang takes his camera deep into China's dangerous illegal coal mines to show the conflict between traditional values and rampant commercialism in the powerful drama "Blind Shaft" at the Berlin Film Festival. Clifford Coonan, REUTERS
French Release Date: 1 Oct 2003 (Ocean Films): Télé Ciné Obs - Pierre Sommé Beauté des plans, justesse de l'interprétation : pour sa première fiction, le do- cumentariste Li Yang signe une oeuvre superbe.
L'Express - Jean-Pierre Dufreigne Ne fuyez pas, c'est un conte cruel à la chinoise, d'une perfection rare.
Le Figaroscope - Brigitte Baudin De retour dans son pays après plusieurs années à l'étranger, Li Yang a réalisé ce film poignant. Mais toute vérité n'est pas bonne à dire. En Chine, son film a été interdit purement et simplement.
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Zurban - Mathieu Dupont Un film de peu de moyens qui repose sur la tension de son duo d'acteurs et tire son énergie de la cruauté désespérée qui pousse Song et Tang à exploiter un " filon ". Une histoire simple mais saisissante.
Télérama - Louis Guichard Plongée dans la Chine minière et les bas-fonds de l'âme humaine. Un premier film noir et cinglant.
Libération - Philippe Azoury Li Yang filme tout cela, assez physiquement, caméra à l'épaule, en se faufi- lant. (...) Surtout, il jette tout ça à la lumière du grand jour. Sa caméra est précieuse, comme le sont ces lampes montées sur les casques des mineurs.
Les Inrockuptibles - Jean-Baptiste Morain Couronné de prix, le premier long métrage de Li Yang ouvre une nouvelle voie dans le cinéma chinois : celle du film noir haletant aux résonances politiques.
Le Figaro - Dominique Borde Un film qui a la force d'un document.
Chronic'art - Jean-Philippe Tessé Si la violence du contexte et de l'action recouvre le film d'un épais voile grisâ- tre, les instants volés au travail sont rendus à leur intensité baladine, laissant nécessairement la place à de d'étonnants changements de ton. La formule est galvaudée mais tant pis : Li Yang est bien sûr un nom à retenir.
Studio - Thomas Baurez Un drame fort et intense, filmé caméra à l'épaule et porté par une interpréta- tion tout en force.
Première - Olivier de Bruyn Maîtrisée et sèche, la mise en scène excelle à dépeindre les moindres sou- bresauts physiques et moraux des protagonistes. ‘BLIND SHAFT’
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UK RELEASE 7 NOV 2003
An extraordinarily uncompromising film with a bleak vision of human nature that’ll shock you senseless. Statement from the Distributor
Stark, brutal and frequently hilarious, this blackly comic fable is not to be missed. Jamie Russell TOTAL FILM
Makes a devastating impact. Alan Morrison EMPIRE
Could hardly be a more devastating portrait of the country Neil Norman EVENING STANDARD
Here is one of the best films of the year An edge of the seat experience Peter Bradshaw THE GUARDIAN
If there’s been a better parable on film for China’s capitalist survival struggle then I’ve yet to see it. Tim Robey DAILY TELEGRAPH
A chilling mixture of tough hearted thriller and social commentary- the set up is as bleak as a pulp fiction novel Allan Hunter DAILY EXPRESS
A solid, credibly staged story, laced with grim humour Cosmo Landesman SUNDAY TIMES
Has a wonderfully light touch, Don’t miss this remarkable film Jenny McCartney THE SUNDAY TELEGRAPH
Glittering masterpiece One of the year’s most gripping movies – it combines the excitements of The Sting and Double Indemnity while at the same time taking a visceral, documentary style look at the horrors and injustices of the new China. Philip French OBSERVER FILM OF THE WEEK
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FESTIVALS – SELECTED INVITATIONS TO DATE
Festival Name Awards Berlin International Film Festival Silver Bear/Artistic Contribution in Directing &Writing Deauville Asian Film Festival Best Film, Best Director, Best Actor (Wang Baoqiang), Audience Award, Critics Prize Buenos Aires Film Festival Best Cinematography Award, Kodak Award for Best Image Treatment, Cinecolor Award for Best Image Treatment Hong Kong Intl Film Festival Silver Firebird Award Tribeca International Film Festival Best Narrative Feature Seattle International Film Festival Sydney International Film Festival Moscow International Film Festival Karlovy Vary Intl Film Fest Jerusalem Intl Film Fest Melbourne Int’l Film Festival Copenhagen Intl Film Festival Edinburgh Int’l Film Festival The Guardian New Director’s Award - Special Commendation Sarajevo International Film Festival International Fest Film by the Sea Film and Literature Award Mill Valley Intl Film Festival Chicago International Film Festival Pusan International Film Festival Flanders Int’l Film Fest – Ghent Bergen International Film Festival Grand Prize Sao Paolo Intl Film Fest Los Angeles AFI Intl Film Fest Intl Film Festival of Bratislava Golden Horse Intl Film Festival Best Adapted Screenplay, Best Newcomer – Wang Baoqiang Denver International Film Festival Hawaii International Film Festival Seville International Film Festival Silver Giraldillo (Best Director and Scriptwriter) (Festival de Sevilla, Cine y Deporte) High Falls International Film Festival Rehoboth Beach Intl Film Festival Pittsburgh International Film Festival Scottsdale International Film Festival Black Nights Intl Film Festival IFF Bratislava Intl Film Festival Best Director Febiofest (Prague) Bangkok Intl Film Festival Best Actor (Wang Baoqiang, Wang Shuangbao, Li Yixiang)