The story is set in a modern provincial industrial town in China. There are factories, steel furnaces, destroyed landscapes. Everywhere you see the results of exploitation of the physical environment in an attempt to escape poverty.

This element of exploitation is shaping human relationships as well. In particular rape is the recurring theme of the film. All this is seen through the eyes of an unquestioning agent of government authority, a ruthless female jailer. In her uncharacteristic and futile quest for love she takes the regular night train to a dating agency in a nearby town.

The film is shot in an understated way. Nothing seems exaggerated or hyped. I too was underwhelmed at first, but having seen it a couple of days ago I find images and scenes are still haunting me. And it was only in retrospect that I realized how desperate the ending was.

As a portrait of a society hovering just above the poverty line it has a universal appeal that easily transcends its place of origin.

The sparse, anti-aesthetic visual quality of this film is evident from the first scene in an unappealing ballroom dancing venue. Even when, in a late scene, we see the natural beauty of mountains around the reservoir, the inhuman scale of the mountains and sky only heightens the isolation and despair expressed in the scene.

The style is strangely abstracted. No-one has any control of their life. They respond with inevitable tragedy to a hopeless and meaningless existence, as if they are already dead. Sound and dialogue are minimal and minimally informing.

The courtroom scene is utterly depressing, depicting a mechanical trial process without the slightest trace of humanity and a cheap backyard execution. The execution itself is never shown. This film is made to shock, but the shock is in its emotional impact, not in any kind of facile visual effects.

The executioner, the film's main character, moves with relentless emotional logic towards the conclusion, though the film finishes before we are shown what actually happens. The lead actress expresses her inner thoughts eloquently with her almost expressionless face. There is an extended view of her face in contemplation, and though on the surface nothing is happening in the shot, the viewer knows exactly what is going through the character's mind.

There is not the slightest hint of redemption for any of the characters. The only one who seems to have any enjoyment of life is the stripper and prostitute who lives next door to the executioner, and her joy is merely a kind of manic displacement of despair.

Although Night Train skilfully and effectively achieves its aim, I always have my doubts about films or literature which portray life as utterly, relentlessly grim with no redeeming features whatsoever. It may be like that for many people most of the time, some people all of the time, and most people some of the time, but it is not a complete picture of life. Possibly it is more true in the PRC than in some other places, but even so, I doubt that it tells the full story of life in that country. The shock it delivers is relatively subtle, but nevertheless I think that the film was made to shock rather than to deliver a balanced view of life.

Based in an industrial provincial Chinese city, this is about the lives of a handful of people affected by a crime. There's a strong element of realism in the depiction of both lives and cityscapes of China today and this is the film's great strength. The story is told in an episodic way, with each episode unfolding fairly slowly. One had to be fairly alert to understand how each episode related to the main story and universal themes of the film, which are desire, loneliness, revenge and the justice system. However, the script is pared down, with relatively little dialogue or detailing of the lives depicted. There are elements of suspense and also an interest for non-Chinese in observing the detailed workings of a society. The acting is restrained but convincing. In justifying my lowish score, I would point to the relative lack of pace and complexity as factors against engagement.