Black Coal, Thin Ice

A small town in northern China, 1999. A coal miner is brutally murdered and his body parts are discovered hundreds of kilometers apart throughout the region. The police investigation reveals a potential suspect, but the attempt to capture him takes a heavy toll: two police officers dead and one badly injured. Zhang Zili, the injured officer, is suspended from duty and has to take a job as a security guard at a factory. Five years later, when a series of mysterious murders once again plagues the region, Zhang decides to investigate the murders on his own. After discovering that all of the victims were connected to a beautiful young woman who works at a small dry cleaner, he decides to pose as a client in order to follow her. Soon enough he begins to fall in love with the woman, until one winter night it all becomes clear and he realizes that his life is in imminent danger. Black Coal, Thin Ice, Diao Yinan’s third feature, is a contemporary film noir, an impressively stylized work that has been lauded by the critics.