Blind Shaft (2003)

Critic Reviews

• Colin Covert, Minneapolis Star Tribune

  While the lack of a musical track, energizing editing and visual variety makes Blind Shaft tedious viewing at times, the story is strong enough to sustain interest.

• Ellen Fox, Chicago Tribune

  Engrossing because of its amazingly well-documented milieu, which German-trained writer-director Li Yang filmed on location in the northern provinces.

• Manohla Dargis, Los Angeles Times

  Makes for gripping, merciless drama.

• Michael O'Sullivan, Washington Post

  Following the story is like walking down a mine shaft. Even with a weak headlamp, you kind of know where it's going, and it can't be good. But follow it you do, thanks to Yang's relentless, verite-style filmmaking.

• Ann Hornaday, Washington Post

  Slow going, but it provides an absorbing glimpse of a rarely seen side of Chinese life.

• Carla Meyer, San Francisco Chronicle

  The murder-plot angle is never completely plausible, but filmmaker Li Yang overcomes it with a searing depiction of economic desperation and moral alienation.

• Ken Hanke, Mountain Xpress (Asheville, NC)

  As a thriller, it's a pretty solid affair -- and there's no getting away from how unsettling the tone is.

• Prairie Miller, WBAI Web Radio

  A descent into the hellish depths of one of those many privatized coal mines under China's new flirtation with the market economy.

• Maria Garcia, Film Journal International

  An auspicious first feature; although relentlessly benighted, it is nevertheless beautifully filmed and well-acted.

• Prairie Miller, WBAI Web Radio

  A descent into the hellish depths of one of those many recently privatized coal mines under China's new flirtation with the market economy.

• Don Willmott, Filmcritic.com

  a spare and spine-tingling exercise in pure Hitchcockian suspense

• Sean Means, Salt Lake Tribune

  A disturbing morality tale that questions how far one will go to survive under such conditions.

• Jeff Vice, Deseret News, Salt Lake City

  This crafty little character piece keeps you guessing. If that wasn't enough, it also gets in some social commentary.

• Phil Villarreal, Arizona Daily Star

  The staccato, noirish film is proof, however, that China has no shortage of filmmaking talent.

• Eric D. Snider, EricDSnider.com

  Depicts a way of life in China that I have no way of verifying but that I have to assume is relatively accurate. Either way, it's a decent film, not great but good enough.

• , Orlando Weekly

  The disparity between our mental rhythms and the script's gets in the way of ingesting what Blind Shaft has to say about unchecked opportunism.

• Donald Munro, Fresno Bee

  Weaves a tiny and compelling story, then manages to fix it within a larger tapestry of a culture bracing itself in a rush toward greed and prosperity.

• Kent Turner, Film-Forward.com

  The deliberately paced film, with understated performances..., is rich with ambiance, painting a memorable and lurid portrayal of China's economic boom.

• John Hartl, Seattle Times

  Fresh, stark and consistently uncompromising, Li Yang's Blind Shaft is an exceptional Chinese film noir.

• Chris Hewitt (St. Paul), St. Paul Pioneer Press

  If Martin Scorsese had been born in China, Blind Shaft is the sort of movie he might have made.

Read all 21 critic reviews