Behemoth

This film takes us to a number of gasp-worthy and infrequently filmed places--deep into a mine and into a steel mill where workers sling around white-hot molten metal. The technical quality of the images is extraordinary, heightening the impact.

After seeing the effects of these industries on the environment, we then see footage of the effects on people who work there. The only narration is adapted from Dante's "The Divine Comedy." That was a brilliant idea, letting the visuals essentially speak for themselves.

10/10 visually, 1/10 for everything else.

Mining is dirty; it is also essential for literally every aspect of our daily lives. Despite being billed as a documentary, and a lack of any actual dialogue, Behemoth still comes off a bit preachy - and leaves the viewer awed but ultimately unsatisfied.

Intermixing fantastic shots of several mines, a smelter, and a 'ghost city' is a nude narrator who spouts lines of poetry with gusto. Want to watch a miner make dinner? How about another get scrubbed clean? How about one taking his potted houseplant for a walk? Then this film is for you.

Want to know WHY any of this happens? How about the reasons why these people labour in one of the most rural (and poor) areas of China for their daily wage? Perhaps get some context on the perpetual trade-off between resource extraction and modern progress? Sorry, no answers for you!! Just more shots of sheep grazing, trucks rolling by, and later, a nuclear power plant.

The film is slow, the audio is annoying, but the mining shots are hellish and other-wordly.

While I get what the director is trying to do, he ultimately fails.

My recommendation is to watch the film at 1.5x speed and muted, and if you want to actually learn anything, read the wikipedia page after!

5/10.

Mesmerizing. Does some very simple but effective things with great emotional impact- the endless descent into the mine, the sequence where Panos Cosmatos takes over (:3), the workers cleaning themselves after a day of work at the mine, a middle-aged man scratching away at dead skin- all of them masterful, gut-wrenching scenes.

The narration, while very sparse, has a very central importance in the film. It keeps at bay the feeling that the film is just running around in circles, and lends a loose structure of sorts to the film, which I think makes it more effective. Felt like a film that will haunt me for some time at least.