Black Coal, Thin Ice

2014

1h 46m

IMDb RATING

6.5/10

294

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Drama

Crime

Mystery

Thriller

Two former cops start investigating the series of murders that tanked their careers when the killings begin again.

Directors

Diao Yinan

Writers

Diao Yinan(writer by)

Stars

Liao Fan

Gwei Lun-Mei

Wang Xuebing

See production, box office & company info

Top cast

Zhang Zili

Wu Zhizhen

Liang Zhijun

Rong Rong

Captain Wang

Su Lijuan

Bus Thief

Directors

Diao Yinan

Writers

Diao Yinan(writer by)

All cast & crew

Production, box office & more at IMDbPro

OK, so yes - this is a very slow burn a times with far too many establishing and shots of decaying urban industrialisation, but when the action does actually focus on the story it's not a bad crime drama at all. We start with an arm sticking out of a pile of coal. The cops arrive and "Zhang" (Fan Liao) is soon on the case. He can only identify the corpse, though, and unimpressed his bosses ensure that five years down the line he is reduced to working as a security guard with a penchant for the bottle too. What we now know, though, is that there were a series of such killings and they are now under his fingernails. He is obsessed with identifying the killer. Reuniting with his for partner "Liang" (Xuebing Wang), they pick up a trail that leads them to the enigmatic "Wu Zhizhen" (Gwei Lun-Mei). "Zhang" now vacillates between an attraction to this woman and to suspecting her, but has she anything to do with the crimes? It's a curiously developed film, this. It proceeds in fits and starts before a denouement that is rushed and rather unfulfilling. It looks gritty and dark, the weather - cold and miserable, also helps to create an atmosphere and the acting is competent. Maybe it could lose twenty minutes of preambling characterisations, but it has a solid story with director Yi'nan Diao getting close to the the best from Fan Liao and his lumps of coal.

Geronimo196701 Apr, 2024