Selected cinemas; Cert 15A Only the River Flows plays trick on the audience You can practically smell the cigarette smoke off this grainy, atmospheric police procedural from director Wei Shujun. A murky neo-noir with an impenetrable plot and a mischievous sense of humour, Only the River Flows doesn’t always make it easy for us. But it’s a fascinating film, and Zhu Yilong is tremendous as a frazzled police captain on the verge of madness.
Ma Zhe (Yilong) is having a weird week. It’s the mid-1990s, and an elderly woman, ‘Granny Four’, has just been murdered in a riverside town in rural China. For whatever reason, Ma Zhe’s superiors have decided to renovate a dilapidated movie theatre near the police station.
This is where they hope to solve the murder, and a few others like it. The chief suspect is a homeless local, but Ma Zhe – a father-to-be with too much on his mind – isn’t quite convinced. Based on a novel by Yu Hua, Only the River Flows moves in mysterious ways.
Disorientating and misleading, Shujun’s film is a bit of a headscratcher and is forever playing tricks on the viewer and, indeed, the protagonist. Some patience is required. Three stars Join the Irish Independent WhatsApp channel Stay up to date with all the latest news.