Black Coal, Thin Ice
2014; directed by Diao Yinan

Paying homage to classic film noirs, Black Coal, Thin Ice is a dark movie, both literally and figuratively, with a bit of Coen Brothers style quirkiness thrown in for good measure. It's a refreshingly mature and well-polished picture that is also thankfully void of the propaganda usually present in Mainland releases.

The story revolves around Zhang (Liao Fan), a detective who is investigating a grisly murder where the body is dismembered and put into coal cars. Zhang is on the trail of a suspect, but loses them during a shootout. Disgraced, he is forced to resign and takes a job as a security officer. Five years later, Zhang's former partner tells him of a new set of similar murders, where all the victims are linked by their relationship to the beautiful Wu Zhizhen (Gwei Lun Mei). Zhang begins a new investigation, but soon finds himself becoming attracted to his suspect. Is he in line to be the next target?

Director Diao Yinan sometimes tries to get too creative for his (and the story's) own good, with a plot that has a few too many red herrings and dead ends. But when the focus is on the relationship and cat-and-mouse interplay between detective Zhang and femme fatale Wu, the movie works really well. It is reminiscent of the works of Wong Kar-Wai in that the looks and body language the actors give oftentimes tells much more than their lines of dialogue, making the film thankfully free of overreaching melodrama and hollow characterization.

As a whole, Black Coal, Thin Ice treads the line very well between arty and arthouse twaddle. It never feels like it is too cool for school, yet is an arresting and interesting take on the crime genre that is a welcome break from the seemingly usual Mainland fare (or at least what is chosen to be presented to overseas audiences) of red-washed and overly CGIed historical "epics".

RATING: 7

This movie has been released in North America by Well Go USA. This version is uncut and has the original Mandarin soundtrack. Bonus features include trailers for the movie and several other Well Go releases. The movie is available on Blu-ray and DVD from Amazon.