San da dui

A Chinese police procedural about a former squad of police officers who reunite after jailtime to pursue the murderer who evaded their capture years ago.

A solid, well made crime film that details a supposedly fact-based story of cops who just wouldn't let go. Despite a few contrived scenes and occasional sentimentality, this is mature and engrossing filmmaking that rarely lets you out of its grip. In the beginning, it is something of a classic Asian detective drama in the vein of Memories of Murder, with chaotic policework undermining the case and constant rainfall. Later on, it takes a bit of a different, calmer feel with more male bonding, but the squad's manhunt still continues, despite not yielding great results.

As the story draws to a close, themes of sacrifice and determination at a heavy cost come to the fore, and the film takes on an almost poetic aura. Its thoughtfulness becomes more apparent, and it starts to engrain itself into your mind.

While not without its share of flaws, Endless Journey is yet more proof of quality cinema from Mainland China, even if one has to sift through tons of patriotic fluff to find one of these. I recommend it if you like genre films and detective mysteries that have more on their mind than routine case solving.