ONLY THE RIVER FLOWS
Director: Wei Shunjun
101 minutes. China.
2023. Language: Mandarin.
Official Selection, Un Certain Regard, Cannes Film Festival; Winner Best Film (Fei Mu Award), Pingyao Film Festival 2023
The screening on 8 March at IFI Dublin will be introduced by film critic John Maguire
Adapted from Yu Hua’s novel Mistakes by the River, this third feature from Chinese writer-director, Wei Shunjun (Ripples of Life, EAFFI 2022) is set in the 1990s in the rural town of Banpo, Southern China. Ma Zhe (Zhu Yilong), chief of police (and father-to-be) investigates after the body of an elderly woman is found murdered by the river. An early arrest looks like case closed, but Ma Zhe is puzzled and continues the investigation, opening up a labyrinthine journey. Shot on 16mm in foggy, rainy landscapes, this is a sophisticated atmospheric thriller. What lies beneath though is a complex portrait of provincial community, taut social and psychological relationships, and the quiet and oppressive existence of the occupants, their pasts all served up with a pitch-dark sense of humour.
(Marie-Pierre Richard)