Black Coal, Thin Ice

A gripping thriller with some of the most astonishing writing I've seen in a long time. Diao gets a noir tone down pat, and knows how to make a scene come together in one hell of a way. "Black Coal, Thin Ice" is one of my favorite films of the decade. It's astonishing how, in the right hands, a gunfight exchanging less than ten bullets could feel like a gut punch to me. Every ten minutes something happened that blindsided me, making me feel like I had never watched a movie before.

Intriguing noirish crime thriller, one that unravels its secrets with both skill and restraint while offering an interesting take on the femme fatale archetype. Not too shabby.

With minimal dialogue and extended scenes of bleak, wintry China punctuated by moments of intensity and surrealism, Black Coal Thin Ice's atmosphere and persistent tension is well crafted. It was enjoyable to watch, in spite of the crime story itself ending on somewhat of a whimper.

A decent crime drama which fails to feel fresh at any point. Pretty strong mise-en-scène and cinematography though...

The film had a certain noir style and reminded me both of Touch of Sin and Memories of Murder - which would normally be a good thing - however the non-linear narrative and indistinct characters meant that it sorely lacked impact.

I can't tell if Chinese hyper-realism is really surreal or if this luscious noir slog is handled with the same spectacular absurdist subtlety of Kubrick. Regardless, the cinematography is bewitching, the pace compelling and the senselessness weirdly logical. A well put together and superbly executed piece of cinema.

An often confusing, rather minor noir thriller. What puts it over is an astonishing sense of place. I've never seen China like this - both damp and luminous, filmed with a confident and patient directorial hand. At a subtle level it's also a corrective to A Touch Of Sin.

A noir with a flair for the surreal? That does seem to be the case with Diao's film, and the resulting odd tone works for what is itself a disturbing story of crime, love, and industry gone wrong. Diao's camera exhibits a maturity in its ability to preference the bleak atmosphere without overwhelming the film with it. He also has a keen sense of shooting action in a way that refuses to give clues as to what might happen next. This unsettling approach makes the narrative work all the better.

A very interesting plot.

Once more decent atmosphere, but I'm just really not into crime movies.

lunapark scene is a reference to "the third man"s prater scene

Plucked this one at random off of a library shelf because I liked the title. It is a gorgeous film full of creative compositions and movement, but the performances and script didn't impress me. Everyone just seemed kind of tired. I also didn't buy the romance, which is an integral element of the film. For a neo-noir thriller, the plot is far too straightforward with no real twists or turns to speak of. Everything unfolds slowly in the expected manner.

Like last year's A Touch of Sin, it's another genre exercise -- here, a noir -- that spills a disbelief in progress and money. Its metaphors seem harsh, but they work most of the times: it starts with Zhang having to let his wife go after divorce, as body parts are seen in coal -- industry's pearl -- segments; the femme fatale works at a laundry shop, her husband became a ghost killer, and she kills the man whose jacket she ruined. Nice Beau Travail reference in the end. It deserves a rewatch.

Lots of great stuff going on here, just wish the story had a little more oomph.

kömür madeni, polisiye, cinayet, parçalanmis ceset, bes yil sonra, eski polis, kuru temizlemeci (kiz), fakirlik, caresizlik, buz pateni (cinayet silahi), öldü sanilan adam (Çinde bir kömür madeninde bulunan insan uzuvlari bir dizi karmasik cinayetin habercisidir.)

Draussen auf den Strassen der kargen Stadt liegt der Schnee und genau wie die Schneedecke den Dreck darunter verdeckt, fühlen wir, dass etwas Unheimliches hinter der Fassade dieser Affäre lauert. Black Coal Thin Ice arbeitet mit solchen Suggestionen, wobei die Geschichte immer undurchsichtig bleibt... die ganze Rezension sowie die für uns wichtigsten chinesischen Arthaus Filme auf der Seite unserer Videothek cinegeek.de

Şahane görüntü yönetimi, film noir kodlarını başarıyla eğip bükme, arka planda da Çin toplumundaki adaletsizlik. Bir film noir aşığı olarak söyleyebilirim ki son dönemde çekilik bu janrda değerlendirilebilecek daha iyi bir film görmedim.

garip bir film. izleyiciyi 1.5 milyarlik cin'de yalniz hissettiriyor. guzel basladi. polisiye kismi zayif. ama ana karakterin ruh hali bazi sahnelerde cok iyi anlatilmis. kadinda da buyuk potansiyel vardi, atlanmis. bir zamanlar cin'de

Solid. In every form.