Behemoth

This year’s Melbourne International Film Festival offered hardy viewers a somewhat gruelling pairing of back-to-back contemporary Chinese documentaries: Wang Bing’s 150-minute Ta’ang was followed by Zhao Liang’s relatively concise Behemoth. Both films offer two visions of very different humanitarian crises in China—one relating to freedom of movement, the other exploring labour conditions and environment.

Behemoth begins with a wide shot of an open-cut mine, as a blast rips through the landmass, reducing mountain to rubble. Such explosions repeat throughout the film...