Only the River Flows

Wei Shujun's latest is a mysterious and engrossing neo-noir that marks a great return to the subgenre for Chinese cinema.

It's no secret that Chinese cinema has suffered artistically under Xi Jinping's regime, even as it has reaped truckloads of money. Only the River Flows provides a very welcome sign of life.

Although "Only the River Flows" emerges as excessively artistic on occasion the artfulness that is evident in every frame and the charisma of the protagonists definitely make it a movie worth watching

Like the investigation itself, the meaning of Only the River Flows gradually finds its focus as the story progresses, leaving the viewer staring into the same abyss the detective does -- an abyss that, as in any respectable film noir, stares back at him.

It's an ode not just to a particular style of cinema, but to the idea of cinema itself, as a form of storytelling that completes a cultural and personal picture.

A slow-burning, atmospheric and provocative crime thriller.

The craft brought to bear on Only the River Flows is captivating, but when it comes to matters of story, it cultivates a frustrating air of disinterest.

Shujun has built a compelling, evocative mystery that maintains its enigmatic, unfinished feeling even after the higher-ups have closed the case and patted themselves on the back.

[This crime thriller is] a gradual breakdown, complemented by Chengma Zhiyuan's thoughtful and measured cinematography.

Wei's film increasingly blurs the line between the real and the imagined. The filmmaker has a gift for disorientation that partly compensates for the muddiness of the plot.

As "Only the River Flows" follows its winding course, the movie seems to lose its grip not merely on the mystery but on its protagonist, becoming less psychologically penetrating and more haphazardly hallucinatory.

The film's credited actors all leave their mark, but it lives and dies by its lead, and Yilong Zhu gives a star-making performance. Until recently best known as a TV performer, he has started to make waves in China for his movie appearances.

Yilong Zhu carries Only the River Flows because of a brooding performance full of thoughtful introspection.

Only the River Flows enriches what could have been a run-of-the-mill neo-noir with pitch-black humor and a disregard for linear narrative and concrete resolution.

The film's plot becomes a little muddy at times, exacerbated by a runtime that frankly could have used some reduction to make for leaner pacing.

Wei Shujun's murder mystery "Only the River Flows" upends the familiar investigation plot, for his Chief of the Criminal Police Ma Zhe will follow one frustrating lead after another.

It was really atmospheric, melancholic, and visually arresting...

Only the River Flows is a compelling film moulded in the stylish trappings of classic noirs, but its lacking screenplay tells a frustratingly empty story.