It's probably a little inane and reductive to say "there's a lot here" about a documentary that is over 9 hours long (especially one as lauded as Tie Xi Qu), but it can definitely feel overwhelming finally finishing something of this scope. I really don't know where to begin - or end.

West of the Tracks is a monument to the misery and heartlessness of the transitory nature of existence. It's a document of a very specific time and place,…

In your moments of doom what will you claim as your own? Your vanity? Your despair?

Will you distract yourself with frivolities? With routine? With taxi rides, windows open as the sounds of the city tango with the chatter of the radio? Or maybe with a bed full of kittens?

Will you avoid bad omens? Treat superstitions as signs of things to come - seeing ill portents as interminable truths?

Will love give you strength? Or make you question your…