"Blind Shaft" keeps audiences in the dark for most of the way. And that's not just because some of the film's scenes take place in a coal mine, which is one of the better settings for a thriller in recent memory.
No, this Chinese import also reveals its intentions gradually and throughout the movie. As a result, this crafty little character piece keeps you guessing. If that wasn't enough, it also gets in some social commentary.
However, it's not as dire or as heavy-handed as that might make it sound. And while some of the pacing is a bit leisurely — though it's a tad longer than 90 minutes, it seems as if it could be tightened up — the film's feeling of claustrophobia and its unpredictable nature help generate more suspense than most American-made studio films that cost considerably more to make.
"Blind Shaft" follows two miners, Song (Li Yixiang) and Tang (Wang Shuangbao), who have turned murderous to make ends meet. They've been running a scam where they kill one of their co-workers, pretend to be related to the deceased and then collect money from the mine's management.
It's proven to be a successful scam — successful enough that the two men have money for their drinking, gambling and prostitution habits.
Soon they begin running out of money, so they start sizing up their next victim. The most promising is a 16-year-old named Yuan (Wang Baoqiang). He needs money for school, so he's desperate enough to pose as Sang's nephew and start working with them in the mine.
The teen is not privy to their blood-thirsty intentions. But Yuan is so innocent, so genial, that Sang starts to take pity on him. Which turns out to be a problem.
This is not the happiest, most uplifting material. But it does have enough twists and turns that it never becomes predictable. And a lot of filmmaker Li Yang's dialogue has a ring of truth to it.
Besides, the leads are convincing. As is Wang, who plays the one sympathetic character here.
"Blind Shaft" is not rated but would probably receive an R for frequent use of strong sexual profanity and crude, sex-related slang, simulated sex, violence (bludgeonings) and male and female nudity. Running time: 92 minutes.
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