Only the River Flows

A well made drama with great atmosphere, in which the investigation of one murder leads to more innocent deaths. It's at its strongest early on and when we start finding out the police detective may not have a firm grip on reality. Aside from the hallucination sequences, for example, he seems to think he's received an award in the past when no one else remembers it, and despite flushing pieces of his wife's jigsaw puzzle down the toilet during an argument, later she's assembled the whole thing. It really makes you wonder whether he's losing his mind, and between that and other plot elements that don't quite add up, there is ample room to interpret the film as you wish (which I confess felt like a slight negative here).

The characters we meet during the investigation include a docile but mentally challenged man referred to by the locals as "the madman," a pair of star-crossed lovers, and a hairdresser whose secret cross-dressing is one of the few things in the film that you can see coming a mile away. The cop's pregnant wife who asserts her right to choose the infant's fate in no uncertain terms when told it has a 10% chance of being mentally defective is also a rare moment we feel on solid ground in the film, and it was a fantastic scene besides.

The cop's ping-pong loving superior officer urges him to consider the case closed, though a dream sequence in the theater seems to point out just how absurd it is to think "the madman" is behind it all - but then what about the murder of the child with an eyewitness? And why would the hairdresser commit suicide, after surviving a first attempt and being in great spirits literally moments before? Could the cop himself be somehow involved, suffering from some mental defect that he's going to pass on to his infant son? Or could the river itself harbor some form of malevolent spirt, driving people to violence, despair, or insanity?

There are lots of questions here, but just like with the jigsaw puzzle, director Wei Shujun seems to have thrown away a few pieces, leaving us to decide for ourselves. The fact that the cop gets the award he seemed to be deluded about makes really made me wonder how much of this is distorted, or in his mind. That look in the baby's eye was certainly ominous, and maybe an indication that there's some larger, unknowable evil afoot. I just wish this had been a smidge more coherent.

Director Wei Shujun is one of the most anticipated Chinese directors at Cannes every year, because he really never disappoints. From his witty and humorous film "Striding into the Wind" which was shortlisted for the Director's Fortnight two years ago and received rave reviews at Cannes, this time he brought a different style of black film to the "A Certain Regard" section, which was like a shot in the arm, awakening the tired international critics. The film successfully adapted the work of teacher Yu Hua and had a strong Wei-style personal style, highly restoring the sense of the 90s in China, with a bleak realistic theme supplemented by magical dream segments, and sudden absurd scenes that even made the audience scream in surprise. Some of the ending segments seemed like clues deliberately left by the director, like the godly drama "The Long Season", which made me want to watch it again after seeing it. Ting shuo kan guo cai neng ping fen wo mei kan guo shi yi shi.

Lens: 16mm film movies are really not easy It has a very cinematic texture, composition, colors, perfect camera language, and metaphorical expression art, which perfectly fits this somewhat bizarre and absurd story. There are no unnecessary narrative techniques at all. Excellent artistry, the atmosphere brought by the screen is excellent!

Music: This movie doesn't have a lot of music, but it's all perfectly chosen. And most importantly, when you finish watching the music in the movie and hear it again, a very strange feeling arises, as if the story of Ma Zhe and his is floating in your mind again, bringing you back to the story of the movie like a movie. Many of the things conveyed by the camera seem to be experienced in an instant.

The movie is actually based on a novel by Yu Hua... The plots and setting of this movie makes audience unable to predict the end... The absurdity will make looking forward to the end of the movie... It's a noir movie... Mind blowing and realism... I believe it took years before Wei Shujun could adapt this to a movie... My friend that attended the screening at Cannes told me how absurd it was and I should see it so... Seeing this, it is above my expectations because I actually don't really like Chinese movies, I base on Korean but seeing this, I look forward to see more of this nature of movies.. Nice Performance from Yilong Zhu and Maoyan Chloe.. it's actually worth given it a try👍

Reviews from the premiere was exciting so glad I got the replay ticket on 22 May at the Cannes festival. No spoilers.

Actor Zhu Yilong was fantastic in portraiting the character Ma Zhe and gave some very powerful and mesmerizing scenes. One can feel the emotional turmoil of Ma Zhe as the storyline unfold. An amazing young and gifted actor. I look forward in checking out his other movies.

The cinematography was fabulous. Many great scenes composition and the final grading set a good tone on the mood.

The bgm blended well and compliment the movie story development.

Only the River Flows is a well made movie taking a deep dive into human nature and self reflection.