Cannes 2023: Only The River Flows Movie Review Chinese Neonoir Makes A Triumphant Comeback With Wei Shujuns Dazzling Murder Mystery
- Wei Shujun's adaptation of Yu Hua's short story breaks with a disappointing streak of recent Chinese neo-noir films about a detective who stumbles upon a small-town murder.
- The meaning of the film is made clear by the increasingly surreal imagery as protagonist Zhu Yilong unfolds, contrasting Wei's position as the main author.
4/5 stars
Once a blockbuster and banned genre that kept the international film festival circuit down, Chinese Newer has seen its returns decline in recent years. Doomsday movies that delve into the dark underbelly of the country have been replaced by absurdist scenes where style trumps substance.
Ready to meet the current trend . Wei Shujun's third film, an adaptation of Yu Hua's 1987 absurd thriller, mixes detective action, doomed characters, and surreal dreamscapes.
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The film, which premiered at the Cannes Film Festival, is a commentary on a society torn apart by change.
River Stream was only set in the gray Chinese provinces of the 1990s, an era brought to life by digital camera work and shot on 16mm film. The story revolves around the discovery of the dead body of an old man in a river in a small town.
While everything points to a local madman (Kang Chunli) as the culprit, overworked case officer Ma Zhi (Zhou Yilong) sees something wrong with the seemingly water-proof evidence and the ease with which to apprehend the suspect.
© South China Morning Post which provided a still image of Zhu Yilong (centre).Instead, her mother clings to whatever loose ends she can find: a bag left next to a dead body, other suspects seen at the crime scene, and a witness who says she's ready to charge her with murder. Meanwhile, the maniac escapes from custody and the body count grows.
Under pressure from the local police chief (Hu Tianlai) to close the case and due to his wife's pregnancy problems, Ma begins to fall apart. As he jumps into the final battle with his quarry, he's not even sure where fact ends and fantasy begins, which also confuses the audience.
But maybe that's the point: More than a simple criminal , Just River Flow is about a stage where the characters' repressed fears and erratic behavior are played out.
© South China Morning Post in still form provided by Zhu YilongWei's mastery was to make early cinema one of the main locations for film. The police first consider it an emergency control center, where Ma hallucinates about keeping secrets from the citizens.
In the end, it was transformed into a dreamy, luxurious public event space that celebrated crime-solving.
The surreal landscape leaves room for many readings: it could be a commentary on the relationship between the state and art, an Orwellian critique of a faithful society or men's fear of the seemingly grandiose patriarchy. Wei left much open to interpretation.
His position as one of the most complex filmmakers in China is unquestionable.
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This article originally appeared in the South China Morning Post (www.scmp.com), one of the leading newspapers in China and Asia.
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