MIFF NOTES: Black Coal, Thin Ice (2014, Dir. Diao Yi'nan)

Black Coal, Thin Ice opens with a body uncovered in a coal mine. Multiple coal mines actually. Multiple coal mines one body. Though the victim is identified, cremated and buried, the crime is left unsolved. Attendant detective, Zhang Zili (Fan Liao), recently divorced and injured in the line of duty falls off the force and into an alcoholic stupor. Five years later he finds himself drawn back into the case from the sidelines when the victims ex-fiancee, Wu Zhizhen (Lun Mei Gwei) comes under suspicion.

Director Diao Yi'nan's patiently paced noir relies as heavily on its gorgeous cinematography as it does on the genre's well-worked tropes. But Black Coal, Thin Ice isn't as straightforward as it first seems. Once Diao lays out his very familiar framework, he works meticulously to unpack noir's seldom-questioned use to women and examines society's (and the genre's) eagerness to fetishise female characters in narrative.

Black Coal, Thin Ice may not contain anything particularly original but its deft mix of style, genre and social comment is beguiling. It's a dense work, though, one which possibly could have been punctuated with a few more of Diao's startling action sequences.

One to hunt out if you're a fan of neon-drenched, hard boiled Chinese noir with a deconstructing twist.


★★★★

Trailer:

Disclaimer: Due to excessive work and excessive film going, MIFF posts are going to be pretty sketchy this year. I'll come back to some of the better ones and write them up proper-like if the mood takes.