Black Coal, Thin Ice, 2014.
Directed by Yi’nan Diao.
Starring Fan Liao, Lun Mei Gwei, Xuebing Wang, Jinchun Wang and Ailei Yu.
SYNOPSIS:
An ex cop and his ex partner decide to follow up on investigation of a series of murders that ended their careers and shamed them, when identical murders begin again.
Winner of this year’s coveted Golden Bear at the Berlin Film Festival, Black Coal, Thin Ice comes upon a huge wave of both expectation and critical acclaim. Lauded with such positivity increases the pressure on the film to truly deliver, but despite its technical brilliance and flashes of greatness, Black Coal is ultimately a huge disappointment.
Beginning in 1999 in the Chinese suburbs, Black Coal follows Zhang Zhili (Silver Bear winner Fan Liao) a young police detective who is thrust into a case against a serial killer who is a fan of decapitating his victims and then dumping the parts into coalmines. When the investigation goes south, Zhang quits the force and retreats into a world of drink and emptiness. However, five years later in 2004, a similar crime occurs, dragging the disgraced cop back into the game, and in turn he becomes infatuated with local dry cleaners assistant Wu Zhizhen (Lun-Mei Gwei) who may know more than she lets on.
For the first twenty minutes of this dark thriller, it’s hugely engrossing: firing straight off the bat with its serial killer narrative coming into play almost immediately. Body parts are found in a local mill, spread across various machine conveyor belts. The police emerge almost immediately, with notable evidence at the scene to start them off on the front foot, but ultimately lead to dead ends both for the investigators and the film itself.
From then on, the film sadly looses its way with everything becomes disjointed and somewhat perplexing. It has many shades of some of the better cop thrillers of recent years, with its darkness and black tendencies similar to Se7en and its more procedural elements echoing Infernal Affairs. On paper at least, it all sounds like a promising concoction, but aside from a few flashes of genuine brilliance, Black Coal sadly loses its way due to its over complicated script. Twisting and meandering throughout to the point of convolution, the story tries to be both the aforementioned cop thriller whilst trying to add a lighter, more comedic tone. Certainly a ballsy blend, but as a whole it just doesn’t sit right with the darker undercurrent.
Director Diao Yinan does show some glimpses of his undoubted talents, with some fantastic shot composition and camera moves, while he and his DoP fully immerse you in both the neon beauty of the Chinese towns and the harsher tones of the winter’s outskirts. The cast too are uniformly decent, but do struggle with both their characters and the uneasy tonal shifts in the narrative.
There is a great cop thriller/ serial killer film somewhere amongst the neon lights, crazy dances and hot dumplings, but Yinan’s film becomes overly complicated and puzzling very quickly after it’s brisk, energetic first act. You can’t doubt the talent of both director and leads, showing flashes of brilliance, but ultimately Black Coal, Thin Ice falls into the disappointing category.
Flickering Myth Rating – Film ★ ★ / Movie ★ ★
Scott Davis
Originally published September 26, 2014. Updated April 13, 2018.
