Arquivo

An epic film nine hours long and divided into three parts: Rust (240’), Remnant (175’), and Rail (130’). Director Wang Bing paints a picture of the industrial district of Tie Xi, in the northeast of China. The industrial heart of the country during the communist regime, the city centers on heavy industry for transformation. With the economic changes in the country, the site, today, is practically abandoned. Many of the companies closed down. Some were over 50 years old and had never been modernized. Thousands of employees were left jobless: the majority had to move to new industrial centers where foreign companies have set up around the cities the government has opened to capitalism. In addition to presenting statements by those affected by the changes, the film follows along with the railroad that connected Tie Xi to the rest of the country to lend a better dimension to the transformation China is undergoing. This is where a community rebels against degradation.