Black Coal, Thin Ice [Bai ri yan huo] **** (2014, Fan Liao, Lun Mei Gwei, Xuebing Wang) – Movie Review

Writer-director Yi’nan Diao’s cop mystery thriller starts with several dismembered corpses being discovered in a northern China small town and the investigating officer, Zhang (Fan Liao), coming up against a femme fatale (Lun Mei Gwei) working in a laundry. After a bit, a bloodbath ensues.

A few years later the officer is now a disgraced ex cop working as a security officer, who links up with his former police partner to follow up their unsolved murder investigation when identical murders begin.

This gripping, visually stylish movie is recommended as a good watch for fans of slightly arty, serious-minded foreign thrillers. It’s not the world’s greatest or most original or even most credible plot, but it’s definitely strong, complex and involving enough for an American remake sometime soon. The downbeat mood and depressing urban and industrial settings make their social points but count against entertainment value.

The first half of the film is the best as the mystery plot thickens with mounting suspense. In the second half the 110 minute running time seems generous (though the original cut was 210 minutes). The ending is protracted and mysterious and arty just when you want a clean, quick finish, with a powerful, exciting climax.

The film’s visual style is its best recommendation, with some creative camerawork and clever shots throughout, and some magnetic set pieces. Its oddball colour sense, with muted and unreal images, creates a suitably off-kilter world for the drama, a world where it seems always to be freezing and snowing. The characters are literally skating on thin ice. It’s a shame that the chilly, enclosed characters are hard to warm to, though, making you care less about them and their situations than you should.

It’s quite a memorable movie just the same. It won top prize of the Golden Bear for Yi’nan Diao at the Berlin Film Festival, beating out Boyhood, and Fan Liao won the Silver Berlin Bear as Best Actor. It also stars Lun Mei Gwei and Xuebing Wang.

© Derek Winnert 2015 Movie Review

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