"Blind Shaft" (Mang Jing) is the best Chinese movie I've ever seen

It's about two or three years old, and tells the story of a pair of con-men who get jobs in various coal mines. They masquerade as the relatives of some other worker, kill him, make it look like a mining accident and then shake down the owner for wrongful death compensation (actual accidental deaths are so common that no one ever suspects a thing.) Then they move on to another mine and repeat the process. It's shot in a documentary style, plot wise it's practically film noir, and thematically it's vicious social critique. Highly, HIGHLY recommended.

Director Yang Li (no relation to Ang Lee that I can tell) is jumping to the top of my list of favorite contemporary filmmakers, if he can keep this level of quality up.

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Originally Posted by Chang Style Novice

It's about two or three years old, and tells the story of a pair of con-men who get jobs in various coal mines. They masquerade as the relatives of some other worker, kill him, make it look like a mining accident and then shake down the owner for wrongful death compensation (actual accidental deaths are so common that no one ever suspects a thing.) Then they move on to another mine and repeat the process. It's shot in a documentary style, plot wise it's practically film noir, and thematically it's vicious social critique. Highly, HIGHLY recommended.

Director Yang Li (no relation to Ang Lee that I can tell) is jumping to the top of my list of favorite contemporary filmmakers, if he can keep this level of quality up.

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That was in a movie festival one year up here.

It was full when I got there. I was so ****ed that I missed it.


I think the director got in trouble with china, and all his films were destoryed, but this one got out.

I saw it on dvd, rented from an artsy/importy local video store. If you can't find it at a store like that near you, I suspect netflix has it.