Tie Xi Qu: West of the Tracks - Part II: Rem­nants (Tie Xi Qu)

«Wang Bing's epic three-part documentary Tie Xi Qu: West of the Tracks is a stunningly intimate record of China's painful transition from state-run industry to the free market. Between 1999 and 2001, Wang and his sound engineer Lin Xudong meticulously documented the decline of the Tie Xi industrial estate in the northeastern city of Shenyang, once a shining symbol of a thriving socialist economy. As factories close and workers lose not only their jobs but also their homes and social networks, the filmmakers observe the end of an era. In the first part, Rust, we enter the decaying state-run factories where the few remaining workers toil in an inferno of furnaces and fine dust so thick they can hardly see anything. (...) The second part, Remnants, focuses on the Rainbow Row neighborhood and shows a group of teenagers and their families dealing with impending displacement. (…) In the third and most heartbreaking part, Rails, Bing finally tells the story of Du Xiyun and his teenage son Du Yang. This deeply sensitive and humanistic work testifies to a vanished way of life and the true cost of progress. 'Film this place now, because it won't be around much longer,' advises one of Wang's stoic factory workers. Luckily for us, he did.' (Jeannette Catsoulis, The New York Times, 18.4.2007)176 min. / color / DCP / Mand/e