The Iron Ministry

The Chinese passenger railway system might not sound like a scintillating subject for a documentary, but filmmaker J.P. Sniadecki uses a semi-immersive approach to thrust viewers into the experience of travel for ordinary Chinese citizens, along the way providing a glimpse of their views on political and economic matters (some are highly critical of government policy). Initially, viewers might be put off by minutes of black screen (apart from the titles) accompanied only by the noise of a moving train, followed by close-ups of creaking parts of a locomotive that only gradually morph into long tracking shots as the camera proceeds through aisles, picking up snatches of conversation—sometimes not translated—or following a vendor as he offers snacks and cigarettes from a pushcart. The first long dialogue passage comes when a small boy delivers a pseudo-announcement encouraging people to toss trash throughout the train and engage in even more unsavory conduct. Although the film was assembled from footage shot in various trains over several years, it is edited to suggest a single journey in which old, crowded, filthy accommodations on cars littered with cigarette butts are contrasted with scenes from newer trains, where people sit in comfort and toy with their smartphones or discuss their lives and dreams, either with other travelers or directly to the camera. One can read The Iron Ministry as a metaphor for the changing face of a nation in the throes of an economic revolution, but patient viewers will find it engrossing simply as a unique sensory experience. Recommended. (F. Swietek)