Life really is cheap in the East in this chilling tale from Yang Li, a young Chinese filmmaker with a documentary background. He brusquely lays out a deadly con game played by two drifters who ply the coal mines along with their mark, a homeless waif posing as a relative. A quick, lethal chop on the head with a pick axe and the drifters take off with a nice little cash settlement from the mine operators. But when one of these amoral thugs shows a bit of empathy for their latest snatch (only 16, never been drunk or laid), the killers fall out with each other. With a documentarian’s lack of fuss, telling details about modern Chinese capitalism and utterly naturalistic acting from all the principals (there’s a nice perf from the mine’s lone female who runs the bathhouse), the film only loses its toughness in the last act, opting for too neat a finish.
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