Must-See Movie of the Week Scores 4.3/5 – A Unique Experience!

“Youth (the Torments)” is the second installment in Wang Bing’s trilogy focusing on young workers in the Chinese textile industry, following “Youth (the Spring)” and preceding “Youth (Homecoming).” Released this week, the film has been warmly received by the French media, earning an impressive average score of 4.3 out of 5 from 12 reviews on AlloCiné.

What’s it About?

The narrative weaves through the textile workshops of Zhili, growing more intense with each passing season. Fu Yun makes mistakes and endures mockery from peers. Xu Wanxiang can’t find her pay booklet, and her boss refuses to pay her. From a walkway above, a group of workers watches as their indebted boss assaults a supplier.

In another workshop, the boss has fled, leaving the workers alone and deprived of their earnings. Hu Siwen recounts the 2011 riots in Zhili: police brutality, imprisonment, and fear. After tough negotiations, the workers return home to celebrate the New Year.

Press Reviews:

According to Cahiers du Cinéma:

“Wang does not shy away from redundancy, for he does not see reality as merely a collection of exemplary situations. He sketches portraits, seeks variation in the unchanging, a snag, a hole, an event. In The Torments, the most serious events are invisible.” By Élie Raufaste – 5/5

According to L’Obs:

“An enlightening dive into the heart of China’s textile industry.” By Guillaume Loison – 5/5

According to Critikat.com:

“By capturing the breakdown of the capitalist machine and its effects, The Torments, the second part of Wang Bing’s trilogy on the textile workshops of Zhili, is cloaked in a darker emotion and reaches depths not previously explored in The Spring.” By Robin Vaz – 4/5

According to La Tribune Dimanche:

“Even ancestral solidarities crumble under such permanent violence. Wang Bing captures all this up close and the result is striking, a product of four years of editing to capture both the relentless pace and a real closeness between the filmmakers and the filmed.” By Aurélien Cabrol – 4/5

At 3 hours and 35 minutes, this moving documentary might be lengthy but it deserves your full attention!

According to Les Inrockuptibles:

“By taking the time to observe its characters, the film completely counters the idea of speed that keeps them constantly busy: maintaining the pace, always talking about their speed of execution, avoiding lost time that will inevitably need to be made up, even at the cost of their health.” By Arnaud Hallet – 4/5

According to Libération:

“”Youth” is both a vibrant ode to the youth of his country and a combative work of absolute counter-propaganda, going against all official (Chinese and global) images and narratives by presenting reality.” By Luc Chessel – 4/5

According to Première:

“And because attempts at revolt against their employers extinguish as quickly as they ignite, the film relentlessly narrates the total lack of prospects for these young people and the dehumanization of ultra-capitalism at its extreme. A masterpiece.” By Luc Chessel – 4/5

According to La Septième Obsession:

“Integrating fully with those it films while maintaining the right distance, Bing’s film thus unfolds its complexity and political ambitions, revealing its horrific force and grandeur as a monumental work, a testament to a youth sacrificed on the altar of consumer society and monstrous capitalism.” By Jérôme d’Estais – 3/5