Behemoth

Zhao Liang solidifies his status as one of China’s most unique talents with this politicized examination of China’s war on its own environment, a visionary combination of observational documentary, experimental essay, and Workingman’s Death–like vision of hell on earth. Moving from Mongolian coal mines to ironworks and blast furnaces, ending in a newly created suburb with no inhabitants, Zhao creates a nightmarish portrait of modern China, from its excavated landscapes to those who labor to sustain it. “Zhao Liang’s images aren’t a description of reality,” Spanish filmmaker Albert Serra was moved to write; “they are a hymn. It is the only way to subvert.”