The Wild Goose Lake
Diao Yinan | China/France | 2019
| Director: Diao Yinan Producer: Li Li Screenplay: Diao Yinan Cinematography: Dong Jingsong Editors: Kong Jinlei, Matthieu Laclau Music: B6 | Hu Ge (Zhou Zenong) Gwei Lunmei (Liu Aiai) Liao Fan (Captain Liu) Wan Qian (Yang Shujun) Qi Dao (Huahua) Huang Jue (Yan Ge) |
Rating: R16 violence, cruelty & content that may disturb Runtime: 113 minutes
A neon-tinged neo-noir, Diao Yinan’s film follows a gangster hiding from the cops through a night of grimy noodle shops, dimly lit railway stations and dank gambling houses in (pre-Covid) Wuhan, while the police attempt to ensnare him.
Diao makes full use of noir tropes like flashback, voiceover, a convoluted plot and pouring rain, and adds his own distinct touches, the most notable being a full and luscious colour overlay – The Wild Goose Lake could be a Wong Kar Wai film, and occasionally explodes into full blown action – bike chases are as deftly handled as the quiet conversations over a mahjong board.
Shown at the 2019 New Zealand International Film Festival but otherwise without a wide release, we are very much looking forward to seeing its shootouts and storms on the Embassy screen.
“A film that doesn’t hit you like a tidal wave as much as it gradually washes over you, leaving in its wake a series of memorable set-pieces and a dense, dark web of violence and fatality.”
—Jordan Mintzer, The Hollywood Reporter.