Black Coal, Thin Ice

Having not quite broken through with Uniform (2003) and Night Train (2007), Diao Yinan makes a more positive impression with this atmospheric noir, which delights in flouting generic convention at every twisting turn. Five years after bungling a 1999 murder case in a coal town in the remote northeastern Chinese province of Heilongjiang, security guard Zhang Zili (Liao Fan) drinks to cope with his guilt and the break-up of his marriage. However, when a former cop colleague informs him about a spate of copycat killings involving widely disseminated body parts, Zhang can't resist a little private investigation. The trail takes him to a backstreet dry cleaner's and the widow of the initial victim, who also has connections to the next two casualties. But nothing is quite as it seems in this sedately paced and teasingly digressive story, which is knowingly played by a fine cast and mesmerisingly photographed by Dong Jinsong. Diao's wintry sense of place is impeccable, as are his allusions to classic Hollywood thrillers and the price China has had to pay for its economic transformation. The odd flourish misfires, but this remains bleakly stylish and disarmingly compelling.