The Chinese documentary maker's follow-up to last year's extensive textile workers investigation "Youth (Spring)" is even longer at 227 minutes, but more refined.

By Siddhant Adlakha

Just when it seems as if Wang Bing’s textile documentaries could no longer contain observations, Chinese filmmaker “Youth (Hard Times)” — the second installment in his planned trilogy — presents the passage of time in unforeseen ways. Its story, about the growing frustrations of young workers in Zhili, a district of Huzhou City, is obliquely but precisely constructed, covering a variety of human subjects whose lives do not often overlap but are bound by common circumstances. At nearly four hours long, it outdoes even its mammoth predecessor, “Youth (Spring),” but also uses that film as a platform for deeper exploration.

Garment labor in the wake of China’s textile boom has long been an obsession for Wang, whose 2016 documentary “Bitter Money” chronicled the struggles of migrant workers, and whose subsequent museum installation “15 Hours” unfolds in a garment factory in a single, 900-minute take. “Youth (Spring),” which opened his new trilogy at Cannes last year, is more similar in style and content to the latter, with its emphasis on conveying the sense of the passage of time. “Youth (Hard Times),” which premiered in competition at Locarno, feels more pointed and purposeful, both in scope and technique.