Behemoth

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Behemoth

Released Jan 27, 2017

1h 35m

Documentary

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Tomatometer

Popcornmeter

96%

Tomatometer

25 Reviews

87%

Popcornmeter

100+ Ratings

The ravages wrought upon inner Mongolia by its coal and iron industries.

Richard Brody

The New Yorker

The film seems to shudder with the destructive power of invisible, ubiquitous, and cruelly indifferent authority.

Aug 27, 2018

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Jay Weissberg

Variety

Despite such over-arty flourishes, the lensing never fails to drive home a sense of paradise lost, furthered by images with digitally created fractured lines, which represent the disruption of nature's gift.

Nov 20, 2017

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David Rooney

The Hollywood Reporter

The subtle impact of this contemplative documentary can't be denied.

Nov 20, 2017

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Elissa Suh

MUBI

The obvious beauty of these images is bittersweet; we are gazing after all at what is now scorched earth, tilled by machinery and toiled over by humans, impoverished and exploited...

Feb 27, 2020

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Danielle Wu

Hyperallergic

Given the reality of globalized capitalism and white supremacy, the ongoing trauma to humanity, like the kind in Behemoth, is in truth neither beautiful nor entertaining.

Feb 5, 2020

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Robert Roten

Laramie Movie Scope

This documentary film about coal mining, coal miners and ghost cities in China is a hybrid, more art film than documentary, providing few statistics, but it tells a compelling story of hell on earth through images and music.

Rated: B

Dec 13, 2017

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Liam D

An Hallowing Documentary that goes into mining in Mongolia that's interesting and disturbing

Rated 4.5 out of 5 stars

04/07/24

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Audience Member

Absolutely stunning cinematography. However, content feeds the white / colonizer's gaze... self-orientalising director who knows what would work well with a predominantly western audience.

Rated 3.5 out of 5 stars

02/13/23

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Audience Member

Brave and beautiful film about the coal and iron industries in China. It's brave as it's showing how it damages the nature and landscape and it's beautiful since it's shot so near and uncut. Lovely colors, great clouseups of faces and resorces. It's a documentary - a silent one. Few words are uttered and when there are some, the picture often pauses with some cool cutting imagery effect, like a rotated and mirrored puzzle with a fetus positioned nude dude lying around. A technical treat and a stab in the guts for enviormental hearts. It's horrible in a way, but it's mastering the art of being informative and meditative at the same time. Silent and slow, dirty but crisp. Somehow hypnotizing, mysterious. It got some Mongolian throat singing, other scenes are filled with industry noise. It's art made to observe and digest, still it's just the harsh reality and the daily life of thousands of workers. 8.5 out of 10 drops of sweat.

Rated 4 out of 5 stars

01/17/23

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Audience Member

A meditative look at the cost of industrialisation in a condensed timeline and the people it leaves behind.

Rated 3.5 out of 5 stars

02/11/23

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n a

A visually stunning piece about mankind's never ending scaring of planet earth, however the lack of dialogue and directorial style make it a patience-testing watch at times!

Rated 3.5 out of 5 stars

03/31/23

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Audience Member

I enjoyed this film primarily for the sublimity and enormity of the images, and the eeriness of the tall empty city, the hidden observer nature of the setting

Rated 4 out of 5 stars

02/10/23

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Liang Zhao

Director

Sylvie Blum

Writer

Zhao Liang

Writer

Sylvie Blum

Producer

Liang Zhao

Cinematographer

Fabrice Rouaud

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Synopsis

The ravages wrought upon inner Mongolia by its coal and iron industries.

Director: Liang Zhao
Producer: Sylvie Blum
Screenwriter: Sylvie Blum, Zhao Liang
Distributor: Grasshopper Film
Genre: Documentary
Original Language: Chinese
Release Date (Theaters): Jan 27, 2017, Limited
Release Date (Streaming): Jun 2, 2017
Runtime: 1h 35m

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