Films/DVD Asylum

Posted by tinear (A) on December 12, 2005 at 12:58:58

Li Yang shows he's an original, potent film maker in his first non-documentary effort.
Don't expect any Hollywood-style cop investigation or pulse-pounding music and gore slash-fest; rather, settle in for a realism--- a humanism--- that'll disturb you.
Through the dead-end life that is the lot of modern day mineworkers in China walks another danger, just as unavoidable and sudden. Like most superb films, this one is hard to peg. It's more than a thriller/suspense film. Much more.
Yang wrote, edited, produced, and directed.
It seems the realism of the film got him in serious trouble in China, which he had anticipated before its release: he has made no more films.