Behemoth (2015) User Reviews (5)

Staggering visuals leave a sobering message

[xWRL · 9/10 · 19 February 2017]

This film takes us to a number of gasp-worthy and infrequently filmed places--deep into a mine and into a steel mill where workers sling around white-hot molten metal. The technical quality of the images is extraordinary, heightening the impact.

After seeing the effects of these industries on the environment, we then see footage of the effects on people who work there. The only narration is adapted from Dante's "The Divine Comedy." That was a brilliant idea, letting the visuals essentially speak for themselves.

50 shades of slate

[user-161-409787 · 9/10 · 17 January 2019]

Mesmerizing. Does some very simple but effective things with great emotional impact- the endless descent into the mine, the sequence where Panos Cosmatos takes over (:3), the workers cleaning themselves after a day of work at the mine, a middle-aged man scratching away at dead skin- all of them masterful, gut-wrenching scenes.

The narration, while very sparse, has a very central importance in the film. It keeps at bay the feeling that the film is just running around in circles, and lends a loose structure of sorts to the film, which I think makes it more effective. Felt like a film that will haunt me for some time at least.

Behemoth, Mankind, Destroyer

[Velrias · 10/10 · 21 December 2016]

Wow..

This is a horrific piece; but a piece of art, I believe.

An elegy, a love poem, to mother nature. A sad sight to behold, but a magnificent portrayal of the evil, greediness that is uprooted the earth.

Mysteriously hypnotizing; mystical. Beautiful cinematography, haunting visuals, eerie soundtrack; though the equipment itself plays a soundtrack of it's own: horror. This is a horror symphony of it's own. Though, not a conventional horror; horror, at our own kind; what we can do to ourselves, and our earth. A dreamy, almost ethereal narration. A combination of pure beauty visual, with poetry; help to elevate this to a piece of art; visual poetry.

This may well be, most definitely is one of the best films I've seen, this year.

A masterpiece. A Gem; exposure, to the unsung heroes of our time.

Not for the faint-hearted.

I implore you to watch this piece.

*Spoiler*

One of the last shots, sums it all:

'All the sacrifices, transmuted into steel'

All the pain, sacrifice, and disease, that the workers will go through, to merely create a piece of steel, transmuted, to go into our cities, where people live happily, with huge wealth, and the people in the mines, have sacrificed themselves, for their steel.....

A grim and gloomy Chinese documentary

[Leofwine_draca · 6/10 · 25 November 2017]

BEHEMOTH is a grim and grimy Chinese documentary looking at the impoverished lives of workers in a mine and steel factory in the north of the country. It feels very much like a real-life GERMINAL, full of depressing visuals of a broken and run-down landscape. The depiction of human life at its most base is heartbreaking at times. Intellectually, I wished this documentary had more narration - the only spoken words are poetry - to give context to go along with the visuals, but those visuals are powerful enough to stand on their own.

Stunning visuals ruined by total lack of context.

[ladybug-48595 · 5/10 · 2 April 2024]

10/10 visually, 1/10 for everything else.

Mining is dirty; it is also essential for literally every aspect of our daily lives. Despite being billed as a documentary, and a lack of any actual dialogue, Behemoth still comes off a bit preachy - and leaves the viewer awed but ultimately unsatisfied.

Intermixing fantastic shots of several mines, a smelter, and a 'ghost city' is a nude narrator who spouts lines of poetry with gusto. Want to watch a miner make dinner? How about another get scrubbed clean? How about one taking his potted houseplant for a walk? Then this film is for you.

Want to know WHY any of this happens? How about the reasons why these people labour in one of the most rural (and poor) areas of China for their daily wage? Perhaps get some context on the perpetual trade-off between resource extraction and modern progress? Sorry, no answers for you!! Just more shots of sheep grazing, trucks rolling by, and later, a nuclear power plant.

The film is slow, the audio is annoying, but the mining shots are hellish and other-wordly.

While I get what the director is trying to do, he ultimately fails.

My recommendation is to watch the film at 1.5x speed and muted, and if you want to actually learn anything, read the wikipedia page after!

5/10.