Behemoth

15 yrs 89 minutes • 2015 • 7.5

The beauty of the grasslands will soon be covered by dust. The shepherds have no choice but to leave the meadows shrunk by ash and noise. Iron ore mines are illuminated all night because drill workers have to keep awake. Others are busy filling endless lines of trucks with coal. Dressed in masks of grime they turn into ghostly creatures. They lead a battle against the machines and against themselves. After breathing cold dust for decades, death is just around the corner. The award-winning Chinese director Zhao Liang has made a new daring documentary focusing on social injustice. Behemoth is a journey to hell on earth, to the coal mines in the Mongolian prarie landscapes and a story about the terrible conditions of workers and of nature. Zhao Liang lets the pictures and soundscapes speak for themselves in this artistic documentary inspired by Dante's Divine Comedy.