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Review: Blind Shaft (盲井) (2003)
This was a short and simple crime movie. A quick watch but interesting because this sort of movie is not common.
Spoilers.
Story
Tang Zhaoyang and Song Jinming were coal miners and conmen. Their scheme was to befriend another miner and kill them, and then frame the mining company for the death in order to extort money. We saw a flawless example of this at the beginning of the movie.
On their next con, Tang recruited a 16 year old teenager. Song was very reluctant, seeing the innocence in the boy, but reluctantly agreed to let the teenager pose as his 18 year old nephew to their next mining job. The boy, Fengming, revealed that he had to drop out of school because he didn’t have enough money, and his dad hadn’t come home in a long time.
Mining was rough work for Fengming, but he was optimistic about earning the money. In a conversation with Song, Fengming revealed that he wanted to go back to school, and he showed a picture of his family to him. Song realized that the two of them had actually killed Fengming’s father in one of their earlier cons. This added to Song’s already building guilt. Song kept delaying the inevitable murder of the boy.
Song and Tang had a habit of picking up prostitutes. They took Fengming to a prostitute but he hated the experience, feeling shameful about it. He had a growing interest in sex and women but the experience was so shameful that he wiped all the thoughts from his mind, covering up all the posters of naked women that were originally posted on the walls of his dorm with Song and Tang. He was shy around women in general. There was a woman, Miss Ma, who helped with taking care the dorm at the mine. In another scene, Fengming borrowed money from Song to donate to a boy who wanted to attend high school. Song felt sympathy for the boy too and donated some money, whereas Tang though the boy was scamming them. After receiving his first paycheque, Fengming was rejuvenated. He bought a chicken to celebrate, he paid back the money he’d borrowed from Song, and he was super pumped about sending money back home.
Eventually, Song and Tang put their plan into motion. They would get Fengming relaxed, giving him a drink and chatting about what he missed about home. Knowing that Song had a soft spot for the boy, Tang took out Song first, bashing him over the head. However, as Tang tried to approach Fengming, Song appeared and knocked him out. Fengming ran away in fear.
In a later scene, the boss at the mine was forcing Fengming to sign a document. This was for 30,000 yuan that was payable to Song’s family upon his death. Fengming had been posing as his nephew, so that was why he was asked to sign. Fengming was very nervous about it, knowing he was receiving the money as a lie. The boss mistook his reservations as him wanting more money. Miss Ma convinced Fengming that it was okay to take the money. At the end of the movie, a body was being cremated, and Fengming went home. Though it’s ambiguous, I think we can assume that both Tang and Song died, and that Fengming received money for at least one of their deaths.
Apparently this movie was banned in China. I’m guessing it was due to its protagonists being undeniably bad people. Well, Tang was a villain for sure, but Song was meant to be portrayed as grey, a conman who suddenly found his conscience. I said this kind of movie was not common specifically because of the morally grey main character, set in a current time period and not a historical one. But these two men did bad things, ranging from stealing and hiring hookers (seen as morally bad) to murders.
Production
The version I watched was pretty old and grainy so the movie did feel a bit old despite it only being from 2003. The production of the movie felt a bit old in general, with the way the sound was recorded as well. But I think the acting was good. I also thought it was interesting that the movie was spoken in dialect.
Characters
Tang Zhaoyang
One of the two conmen. In the first con showed on screen, he posed as the family member who would pick up the money from the death of the brother. After the successful con, we saw that he basically didn’t care about anyone other than himself. He and Song took all of the things that belonged to their victim, and then they spent their money on booze and hookers (literally).
Tang was the one who picked up Fengming for their next job, seeing that he was clearly lost. He pretended to find him annoying, so that Fengming would want to suck up even more to follow them on their next job. He was surprised that Song seemed so against having such a young victim, but he eventually convinced him. To Tang, everything was business as usual. He didn’t give a shit about Fengming. But he realized that Song’s soft spot for Fengming would get in the way of their con so he took him out, but not entirely, which came back to bite him. But maybe this was karma for all the murders they’d done. We don’t know if he had family
Song Jinming
Song was just as nonchalant about scams and murders, or so we thought. I think near the beginning we were already supposed to see his spirit wavering. When he and Tang hired the prostitutes, he ended up having trouble finishing, and I wonder if it was meant to be a sign of him starting to have too many thoughts.
When Tang introduced Fengming to him, he was truly aghast and told him to go home and study. Tang was surprised and they had a fight about it, but Song reluctantly took Fengming under his wing as his nephew. For much of the film, it was only Song who cared for Fengming at all, talking with him, asking about his family. That was how Song found out that they’d killed Fengming’s dad, and his guilt multiplied. He later tried to hire a prostitute for Fengming, probably to show him a good time, though the experience scarred him. And it was him who lent him money to give to the boy who wanted to go to school. I think Fengming was warming up to him too. It was easy to see how Song’s already weak resolve to kill the boy grew weaker and weaker.
In the end, Song decided that he couldn’t let Tang kill Fengming. He protected Fengming, and he and Tang perished in the mine.
Yuan Fengming
Fengming was a young boy looking for work who trusted the wrong people. Tang took advantage of an obviously naïve Fengming, only for Song to take pity on him. His experience in the mine was a weird push and pull as Tang and Song were planning for his demise, but Song was also simultaneously trying to be nice to him in the only gruff way he could.
Fengming had a growing sexual interest but was very shy around women and it was perhaps because Song noticed that he decided to buy him his first time. Fengming ran out of the brothel, saying that he felt ashamed. Perhaps it was too sudden of a new experience for Fengming, but no one ever said Song was a good role model.
Fengming was very naïve and bright eyed about the possibility of earning money for his family, and eventually returning to school. In his eyes, he thought the world was logical and just. As long as he did the work, he would be able to bring money home. As long as he had money, he could go back to school. That was all he believed, even when Song told him he was silly for believing so.
Fengming was very pumped about receiving his first paycheque and sending money home. He even bought a chicken, and made a speech, which Song laughed about because it wasn’t even a special occasion.
Fengming had no idea what was coming for him. He was obviously shocked when Tang suddenly knocked out Song in the mine, but when Song knocked Tang back out, Fengming ran away. In the next scene, we saw him speaking with the boss who was pressuring him to sign the document to take the money. Fengming, someone who is straight as an arrow, was obviously very nervous about lying. He knew he wasn’t Song’s nephew, he knew he wasn’t entitled to the 30,000 yuan, but the boss and Miss Ma were both pressuring him to. This would be his rude awakening to a world that functioned on lying. Maybe this was why the movie was banned, because in the end, Fengming received the money unfairly.
Themes
Economy
Because everybody was struggling to find work, the conditions were not great. For coal miners, they did hard work away from their families. So they were basically all alone, their only company being each other and occasionally prostitutes. This was how Song and Tang were able to befriend lonely money, whose families would not know if they were dead.
There’s a Chinese saying that one of the bosses said that is still said today, about how China leads in manpower. In the case of this movie, the boss was saying that there are so many people in China lining up for work; if the workers didn’t like the conditions of employment, there’d be someone else who was more than eager. Maybe that was why Song and Tang turned to scams and murder, though a part of them must enjoy the thrill of it.
Family
The movie started with Song and Tang on their usual con, where they’d ask their fellow third miner whether they missed their family. That third person would talk about their family, getting them in a state of relaxation, before Song and Tang wacked them. Is it a mercy to put the man out of his misery of solitude? Or is it cruel to let the family go on not knowing what happened to their husband/father? Probably the latter.
Song had more of a conscience than Tang when it came to kids. I don’t remember if Song had kids back home, but he clearly saw them as off-limits. He entertained Fengming’s dreams and wishes, while also wanting to help him grow to be strong and ready to face the harsh world. Tang had no such conscience. Maybe Song was trying to make up for the lack of his own child, at least one that could be by his side. Rather he take care of Fengming, than Fengming bump into another scumbag like Tang.
Overall
A rough movie about a rough situation, where everybody loses, and the one person who wins still loses something.
Spoilers.
Story
Tang Zhaoyang and Song Jinming were coal miners and conmen. Their scheme was to befriend another miner and kill them, and then frame the mining company for the death in order to extort money. We saw a flawless example of this at the beginning of the movie.
On their next con, Tang recruited a 16 year old teenager. Song was very reluctant, seeing the innocence in the boy, but reluctantly agreed to let the teenager pose as his 18 year old nephew to their next mining job. The boy, Fengming, revealed that he had to drop out of school because he didn’t have enough money, and his dad hadn’t come home in a long time.
Mining was rough work for Fengming, but he was optimistic about earning the money. In a conversation with Song, Fengming revealed that he wanted to go back to school, and he showed a picture of his family to him. Song realized that the two of them had actually killed Fengming’s father in one of their earlier cons. This added to Song’s already building guilt. Song kept delaying the inevitable murder of the boy.
Song and Tang had a habit of picking up prostitutes. They took Fengming to a prostitute but he hated the experience, feeling shameful about it. He had a growing interest in sex and women but the experience was so shameful that he wiped all the thoughts from his mind, covering up all the posters of naked women that were originally posted on the walls of his dorm with Song and Tang. He was shy around women in general. There was a woman, Miss Ma, who helped with taking care the dorm at the mine. In another scene, Fengming borrowed money from Song to donate to a boy who wanted to attend high school. Song felt sympathy for the boy too and donated some money, whereas Tang though the boy was scamming them. After receiving his first paycheque, Fengming was rejuvenated. He bought a chicken to celebrate, he paid back the money he’d borrowed from Song, and he was super pumped about sending money back home.
Eventually, Song and Tang put their plan into motion. They would get Fengming relaxed, giving him a drink and chatting about what he missed about home. Knowing that Song had a soft spot for the boy, Tang took out Song first, bashing him over the head. However, as Tang tried to approach Fengming, Song appeared and knocked him out. Fengming ran away in fear.
In a later scene, the boss at the mine was forcing Fengming to sign a document. This was for 30,000 yuan that was payable to Song’s family upon his death. Fengming had been posing as his nephew, so that was why he was asked to sign. Fengming was very nervous about it, knowing he was receiving the money as a lie. The boss mistook his reservations as him wanting more money. Miss Ma convinced Fengming that it was okay to take the money. At the end of the movie, a body was being cremated, and Fengming went home. Though it’s ambiguous, I think we can assume that both Tang and Song died, and that Fengming received money for at least one of their deaths.
Apparently this movie was banned in China. I’m guessing it was due to its protagonists being undeniably bad people. Well, Tang was a villain for sure, but Song was meant to be portrayed as grey, a conman who suddenly found his conscience. I said this kind of movie was not common specifically because of the morally grey main character, set in a current time period and not a historical one. But these two men did bad things, ranging from stealing and hiring hookers (seen as morally bad) to murders.
Production
The version I watched was pretty old and grainy so the movie did feel a bit old despite it only being from 2003. The production of the movie felt a bit old in general, with the way the sound was recorded as well. But I think the acting was good. I also thought it was interesting that the movie was spoken in dialect.
Characters
Tang Zhaoyang
One of the two conmen. In the first con showed on screen, he posed as the family member who would pick up the money from the death of the brother. After the successful con, we saw that he basically didn’t care about anyone other than himself. He and Song took all of the things that belonged to their victim, and then they spent their money on booze and hookers (literally).
Tang was the one who picked up Fengming for their next job, seeing that he was clearly lost. He pretended to find him annoying, so that Fengming would want to suck up even more to follow them on their next job. He was surprised that Song seemed so against having such a young victim, but he eventually convinced him. To Tang, everything was business as usual. He didn’t give a shit about Fengming. But he realized that Song’s soft spot for Fengming would get in the way of their con so he took him out, but not entirely, which came back to bite him. But maybe this was karma for all the murders they’d done. We don’t know if he had family
Song Jinming
Song was just as nonchalant about scams and murders, or so we thought. I think near the beginning we were already supposed to see his spirit wavering. When he and Tang hired the prostitutes, he ended up having trouble finishing, and I wonder if it was meant to be a sign of him starting to have too many thoughts.
When Tang introduced Fengming to him, he was truly aghast and told him to go home and study. Tang was surprised and they had a fight about it, but Song reluctantly took Fengming under his wing as his nephew. For much of the film, it was only Song who cared for Fengming at all, talking with him, asking about his family. That was how Song found out that they’d killed Fengming’s dad, and his guilt multiplied. He later tried to hire a prostitute for Fengming, probably to show him a good time, though the experience scarred him. And it was him who lent him money to give to the boy who wanted to go to school. I think Fengming was warming up to him too. It was easy to see how Song’s already weak resolve to kill the boy grew weaker and weaker.
In the end, Song decided that he couldn’t let Tang kill Fengming. He protected Fengming, and he and Tang perished in the mine.
Yuan Fengming
Fengming was a young boy looking for work who trusted the wrong people. Tang took advantage of an obviously naïve Fengming, only for Song to take pity on him. His experience in the mine was a weird push and pull as Tang and Song were planning for his demise, but Song was also simultaneously trying to be nice to him in the only gruff way he could.
Fengming had a growing sexual interest but was very shy around women and it was perhaps because Song noticed that he decided to buy him his first time. Fengming ran out of the brothel, saying that he felt ashamed. Perhaps it was too sudden of a new experience for Fengming, but no one ever said Song was a good role model.
Fengming was very naïve and bright eyed about the possibility of earning money for his family, and eventually returning to school. In his eyes, he thought the world was logical and just. As long as he did the work, he would be able to bring money home. As long as he had money, he could go back to school. That was all he believed, even when Song told him he was silly for believing so.
Fengming was very pumped about receiving his first paycheque and sending money home. He even bought a chicken, and made a speech, which Song laughed about because it wasn’t even a special occasion.
Fengming had no idea what was coming for him. He was obviously shocked when Tang suddenly knocked out Song in the mine, but when Song knocked Tang back out, Fengming ran away. In the next scene, we saw him speaking with the boss who was pressuring him to sign the document to take the money. Fengming, someone who is straight as an arrow, was obviously very nervous about lying. He knew he wasn’t Song’s nephew, he knew he wasn’t entitled to the 30,000 yuan, but the boss and Miss Ma were both pressuring him to. This would be his rude awakening to a world that functioned on lying. Maybe this was why the movie was banned, because in the end, Fengming received the money unfairly.
Themes
Economy
Because everybody was struggling to find work, the conditions were not great. For coal miners, they did hard work away from their families. So they were basically all alone, their only company being each other and occasionally prostitutes. This was how Song and Tang were able to befriend lonely money, whose families would not know if they were dead.
There’s a Chinese saying that one of the bosses said that is still said today, about how China leads in manpower. In the case of this movie, the boss was saying that there are so many people in China lining up for work; if the workers didn’t like the conditions of employment, there’d be someone else who was more than eager. Maybe that was why Song and Tang turned to scams and murder, though a part of them must enjoy the thrill of it.
Family
The movie started with Song and Tang on their usual con, where they’d ask their fellow third miner whether they missed their family. That third person would talk about their family, getting them in a state of relaxation, before Song and Tang wacked them. Is it a mercy to put the man out of his misery of solitude? Or is it cruel to let the family go on not knowing what happened to their husband/father? Probably the latter.
Song had more of a conscience than Tang when it came to kids. I don’t remember if Song had kids back home, but he clearly saw them as off-limits. He entertained Fengming’s dreams and wishes, while also wanting to help him grow to be strong and ready to face the harsh world. Tang had no such conscience. Maybe Song was trying to make up for the lack of his own child, at least one that could be by his side. Rather he take care of Fengming, than Fengming bump into another scumbag like Tang.
Overall
A rough movie about a rough situation, where everybody loses, and the one person who wins still loses something.