THE IRON MINISTRY World Cinema

Three years spent on China’s vast train system are distilled into a one-of-a-kind sensory experience in this immersive, formally daring documentary. While traveling via both pristine first-class train cars and the crowded, lively economy class, director J.P. Sniadecki combines the hypnotic rhythms of the click-clacking tracks, the spirited debate and lively conversation of the train’s passengers, and the ever-changing window landscape of towering hills and crowded cities to envelop us in the vibrancy, struggles and diverse opinions of the most populous nation on Earth. Every pan and tilt of Sniadecki’s camera reveals the unique humanity of another passenger, or the simple beauty in the train’s movement. Refreshingly free of a forced political agenda, the film instead plants us directly within the action, creating an endlessly eventful journey in which we encounter gruff security guards, articulate activists, resilient working-class mothers and fellow passengers eager to share a shot of whiskey.