Bei xi mo shou

Director:

Under the sun, the heavenly beauty of grasslands will soon be covered by the raging dust of mines. Facing the ashes and noises caused by heavy mining , the herdsmen have no choice but to leave as the meadow areas dwindle. In the moonlight, iron mines are brightly lit throughout the night. Workers who operate the drilling machines must stay awake. The fight is tortuous, against the machine and against themselves. Meanwhile, coal miners are busy filling trucks with coals. Wearing a coal-dust mask, they become ghostlike creatures. An endless line of trucks will transport all the coals and iron ores to the iron works. There traps another crowd of souls, being baked in hell. In the hospital, time hangs heavy on miners’ hands. After decades of breathing coal dust, death is just around the corner. They are living the reality of purgatory, but there will be no paradise.

MRQE Metric: 73

RogerEbert.comA
Glenn Kenny
The New York Times
Ben Kenigsberg
Variety
Jay Weissberg
The Film StageB
Jared Mobarak
Eye for FilmB
Jane Fae
Village Voice
Calum Marsh
eFilmCritic.comF
Rob Gonsalves
Brooklyn Magazine
Benjamin Mercer
Little White LiesB
David Jenkins
Laramie Movie ScopeB
Robert Roten
In the SeatsC
Thomas Wishloff
The GuardianA
Wendy Ide
The GuardianB
Mike McCahill
Filmed in Ether
Hayley Inch