Watch Tie Xi Qu: West of the Tracks

Tie Xi Qu: West of the Tracks is a documentary filmed over the course of three years, from 1999 to 2001, by filmmaker Wang Bing. The film depicts the decline of the state-owned factories in Shenyang, a city in northeastern China, and the devastating effects it had on the local residents. The film is divided into three parts, each one focusing on a different factory district: Tiexi, which produced steel; Locomotive, which manufactured trains; and Xigang, which created various industrial products, including textiles. Through interviews with workers, managers, and local officials, as well as footage of the factories and their surroundings, Wang Bing offers a comprehensive and unflinching portrait of a city in crisis.

The first part, Tiexi, introduces us to the workers and their families, many of whom have spent their entire lives in the factory district. They describe their daily routines, their struggles to make ends meet, and their hopes for the future. But as the factory begins to cut jobs and production slows to a crawl, their lives become increasingly difficult. Wang Bing shows us the eerie emptiness of the factory buildings, the rusted machinery, and the bleak landscape of abandoned buildings and polluted rivers. We see workers forced to scavenge for scraps of metal to sell, and families dismantling their own homes to sell the bricks.

The second part, Locomotive, takes us to a different part of the city, but the story is much the same. The interviews with workers here are particularly poignant, as they describe their pride in building trains that they will never be able to afford to ride. As production slows and then stops altogether, we see the workers sitting idly in the factory, with nothing to do but wait for news. The sense of pointlessness is palpable.

The final part, Xigang, is perhaps the bleakest of all. This section focuses on the textile factory, where workers are forced to take on more and more work without any increase in pay. Wang Bing gives us a vivid sense of the brutal working conditions, with machines clattering endlessly and workers covered in sweat and dust. One worker, who has only one eye, describes how he simply can't keep up with the pace anymore. And yet, there is a sense of pride here as well, as the workers insist that they are doing their best for their country.

Overall, Tie Xi Qu: West of the Tracks is a remarkable achievement. Wang Bing manages to capture the scale of the crisis without ever losing sight of the human beings at its center. We see the workers and their families struggling to survive, but we also see their resilience and their sense of community. The film is long – nearly nine hours in total – but it never feels slow or repetitive. Wang Bing's approach is patient and observational, allowing the subjects of his film to speak for themselves. The result is a powerful and deeply affecting portrait of a city and a nation in crisis.