Blind Shaft

Blind Shaft presents a hugely ironic vision of the Mainland's inexorable thrust towards "socialist" advancement with capitalistic characteristics. Two older miners with murder in their hearts entice a young boy into becoming a casual labourer inside a mineshaft. The first half hour of the film is a stunning introduction into the dark side of China's industrialization programme - essentially an expose of the country's reliance on and exploitation of migrant labourers (and management's callous indifference to the plight of workers in the country's mining industry) - leading to a totally unexpected twist ending that can only boost the credential of director-screenwriter Li Yang.