Film review: Black Coal, Thin Ice is an engaging film noir
Despite being very much an art house film, Black Coal, Thin Ice has done unusually well on the mainland, taking more than 100 million yuan (HK$126 million) in the first 20 days after its March 21 domestic release.
BLACK COAL, THIN ICE
Starring: Liao Fan, Kwai Lun-mei
Director: Diao Yinan
Category: IIB (Putonghua)
Despite being very much an art house film, Black Coal, Thin Ice has done unusually well on the mainland, taking more than 100 million yuan (HK$126 million) in the first 20 days after its March 21 domestic release.
The film won the Golden Bear at this year's Berlin International Film Festival and its male lead, Liao Fan, became the first Chinese actor to win the Silver Bear for best actor.
Liao portrays a man whose life becomes intertwined with a series of murders that all link back to a mysterious woman.
The film begins in 1999, in Heilongjiang, China's northernmost province, known for coal and harsh winters. In the first scene, there's a close-up of a nylon bag buried in coal on a moving truck. Later, workers spot a human arm on the coal plant's conveyer belt, leading to the arrival of detective Zhang (Liao).
After getting badly wounded while on the job, Zhang retires from the police force and becomes a security guard at a factory. Dissatisfied with his new life, the ex-cop is determined to redeem himself when the killer strikes again five years later.