Wednesday, August 11, 2010

Coal Money (Wang Bing, 2008)

A "seminal image" (I think ... I hope). Men stand and wait as trucks approach. They pull their jackets over their heads to shield themselves from the dust. The wind blows hard. One runs to his truck, parked nearby, to grab a pack of cigarettes. He runs back with pack in hand, and offers a cigarette to the cameraman, who politely declines. The wind's two strong to get a flame out of the lighter. He keeps clicking and clicking, but nothing. Finally, he leans in on one of the other men, and they light their cigarettes together, using their bodies to shield the flame from the wind, nestled like two birds.