''Blind Shaft'' () is a

2003 File:2003 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: The crew of STS-107 perished when the Space Shuttle Columbia disintegrated during reentry into Earth's atmosphere; SARS became an epidemic in China, and was a precursor to SARS-CoV-2; A ...

film A film also called a movie, motion picture, moving picture, picture, photoplay or (slang) flick is a work of visual art that simulates experiences and otherwise communicates ideas, stories, perceptions, feelings, beauty, or atmospher ...

about a pair of brutal

con artist A confidence trick is an attempt to defraud a person or group after first gaining their trust. Confidence tricks exploit victims using their credulity, naïveté, compassion, vanity, confidence, irresponsibility, and greed. Researchers have ...

s operating in the illegal

coal mine Coal mining is the process of extracting coal from the ground. Coal is valued for its energy content and since the 1880s has been widely used to generate electricity. Steel and cement industries use coal as a fuel for extraction of iron from ...

s of present-day

northern China Northern China () and Southern China () are two approximate regions within China. The exact boundary between these two regions is not precisely defined and only serve to depict where there appears to be regional differences between the climate ...

. The film was written and

directed Director may refer to: Literature * ''Director'' (magazine), a British magazine * ''The Director'' (novel), a 1971 novel by Henry Denker * ''The Director'' (play), a 2000 play by Nancy Hasty Music * Director (band), an Irish rock band * ''D ...

by Li Yang (李杨), and is based on Chinese writer Liu Qingbang's short novel '' Shen Mu'' (''Sacred Wood'').

Plot

Most coal mines in China are worked by migrant workers who are forced to endure back-breaking, dangerous work in order to send money home. Some of them have additional schemes of their own. Song Jinming (played by

Li Yixiang Li Yixiang (), also known as Li Qiang (李强), is a Chinese actor. He appeared in movies such as ''Ji Quan Bu Ning'', ''Crazy Lottery''. In 2002, he starred as one of the two murderous con men in director Li Yang (director), Li Yang's ''Blind Sha ...

) and Tang Zhaoyang ( Wang Shuangbao) are professional con artists, running an intricate scam they have perfected through repeated practice. They find a naive young man looking for work, and convince him that they have arranged three lucrative coal mining jobs for themselves and a relative. The relative has not arrived in time, leaving a gap which they generously offer to the victim, on the condition that he pretend to be the missing relative. After a few days of working in the mine, they murder the victim, and by making the murder look like an accident, they use his death to extort compensation money from the mine's management. After introducing the scam, the film follows the pair as they repeat it on a new victim, sixteen-year-old Yuan Fengming (played by

Wang Baoqiang Wang Baoqiang (; born 29 May 1984) is a Chinese actor, martial artist and director. His debut role was that of Yuan Fengming in the movie '' Blind Shaft'', for which he shared the Best New Performer prize at the 2003 Golden Horse Awards. Early ...

). Tensions arise as Song begins to have reservations, touched by the victim's youth and innocence and the uncanny resemblance of Yuan's father to their first victim of the film, while Tang remains focused on making money for himself and his own family.

Production history

Most of the filming took place 700 meters underground on the border between the

Hebei Hebei or , (; alternately Hopeh) is a northern province of China. Hebei is China's sixth most populous province, with over 75 million people. Shijiazhuang is the capital city. The province is 96% Han Chinese, 3% Manchu, 0.8% Hui, and ...

and

Shanxi Shanxi (; ; formerly romanised as Shansi) is a landlocked province of the People's Republic of China and is part of the North China region. The capital and largest city of the province is Taiyuan, while its next most populated prefecture-leve ...

provinces of northern China. Li and his crew were harassed and threatened during the filming.

Reception

''Blind Shaft'' has won at least twelve awards, including a

Silver Bear The Berlin International Film Festival (german: Internationale Filmfestspiele Berlin), usually called the Berlinale (), is a major international film festival held annually in Berlin, Germany. Founded in 1951 and originally run in June, the fes ...

for Outstanding Artistic Contribution at

53rd Berlin International Film Festival The 53rd annual Berlin International Film Festival was held from February 6–16, 2003. The festival opened with musical film ''Chicago'' by Rob Marshall and closed with Martin Scorsese's ''Gangs of New York'', both films played out of competiti ...

in 2003.

Ban in China

''Blind Shaft'' has not been approved for release in China.

The Economist ''The Economist'' is a British weekly newspaper printed in demitab format and published digitally. It focuses on current affairs, international business, politics, technology, and culture. Based in London, the newspaper is owned by The Eco ...

noted how "directors are eager to comment on the rapid changes in Chinese society. But films such as Li Yang's ''Blind Shaft'' (a bleak, compelling picture about life in China's illegal coal mines)... were not shown to local audiences even though they had been acclaimed abroad." The director has stated that although he is not sure exactly why the film was banned in China, he believes the film's content has "no political stigma" attached to it, noting that the novel received China's highest literary award, the Lao She Literary Prize. Discussing the film's themes, Li emphasizes the universal, human elements:

References

External links