A disturbing look at the human cost of your jeans

By Frank Scheck

NEW YORK (Hollywood Reporter) - After watching Micha X. Peled's documentary about Chinese sweatshops, it's a pretty safe bet that you'll have a pang of conscience next time you slip into your favorite pair of blue jeans.

"China Blue," which received its U.S. theatrical premiere at New York's Anthology Film Archives, is a disturbing work that exposes the inhumane conditions that provide the opportunities for consumers to purchase low-cost denim goods.

Shot, needless to say, without the cooperation of the Chinese authorities, the film documents the goings-on at a jeans factory in southern China, focusing on one of the employees, 16-year-old Jasmine in particular. She is but one of hundreds of workers who work nearly daylong shifts for salaries of pennies an hour, sleeping in communal dorm rooms located on the premises. The cost of the meals and hot water provided them are deducted from their wages.

The film includes several interviews with the factory's self-serving owner, Mr. Lam, who defends his practices as necessary to compete in the marketplace and fulfill the intense demands placed upon him by companies servicing retail outlets like Wal-Mart.

Providing an intimate human portrait as well as the information necessary to provide context to the proceedings, the filmmaker has delivered a powerfully illuminating work that is of deep sociological as well as cinematic interest.

Reuters/Hollywood Reporter