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Bookmark this pageBlind Shaft (2003)
Director: Li Yang
Movie review
From Time Out Film Guide
This underground feature by a first time director (Li trained as an actor and went on to study in Germany) combines the strengths of other recent indie films from China with some of the weaknesses of government approved studio movies. Two murderous con-men roam northern China taking casual work in the region's dangerous and unregulated coalmines. They pick up stray, unemployed kids, kill them in faked mining accidents and then pose as aggrieved relatives demanding compensation. The climax is at once expected and unpredictable. Strengths: fluid location filming, often in clearly difficult conditions, and credible performances from the mainly non-pro cast. Weaknesses: the underlying reliance on melodrama, and a regrettable tendency to spike the naturalistic dialogue with pontifications on China.Author: TR
Cast & crew
Director: Li Yang
Producer: Hu Xiaoye, Li Hua, Gao Hua, Li Yang
Cast: Li Yixiang, Wang Shuangbao, Wang Baoqiang, An Jing, Bao Zhenjiang, Zhao Junzhi full cast
Genre(s): Thrillers
Duration: 92 mins
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