Detective Noir Only The River Flows | A Spiralling Story of Carefully Curated Chaos
Only the River Flows is the kind of film that, while I enjoy watching, I don’t exactly relish writing about as a reviewer. Mainly because it’s the kind of film that really asks you to question whether the plot isn’t possible to follow or whether, you know, you’re just not very good at following films.
I’m going to go forward keeping my fingers crossed that it’s the former. Perhaps you’ll be kind enough to indulge me.
The first clue that maybe I’m not totally wrong in thinking this is the setting of Only the River Flows. The drama follows police detective Ma (Zhu Yilong), who’s assigned to investigate a serial killer case in rural Banpo. Just like the novella it was based upon, Yu Hua’s Mistakes by the River, the film is set in the 90s, in a Banpo of derelict buildings, many of which are falling apart. The police headquarters have recently been relocated to the town’s now abandoned movie theatre. “Nobody goes any more nowadays,” Ma’s boss, the chief of police (Hou Tianlai), tells him, “I thought it over. It’s good news.”
What exactly director Wei Shujun was trying to convey to the audience with this isn’t entirely clear (to me), but what I can say is it adds complexity and uncertainty to the narrative: if the police force is so dismissive of cinema, what, exactly, is the detective at the centre of a crime noir film to do?
Indeed, this literal hollowing out of the town’s movie theatre seems to serve as an indication that the function of cinema has now been undermined, perhaps explaining why the signifiers of the detective genre are crumbling as Only the River Flows flows (or doesn’t flow) along. When an old woman is found dead on the bank of the local river, Ma sets off on an investigation which spirals out into series of seemingly related murder mysteries.
During this time he interacts with various members of the local community, many of whom live on the edge of society and have their own secrets. However, while attempting to follow these typical signifiers of the detective genre and thus follow the instructions of the chief of police, his investigations only lead to further complexities and inconsistencies, further away from the seemingly obvious arrest that he is expected to make.
The camerawork also adds to the uncertainty, playing around with genre and perspective. Early on, the camera approaches a sleeping woman then pounces on her before revealing that the point-of-view was of Ma himself; the woman the pregnant wife (played by Chloe Maayan) with whom he is having marital issues. Static, patient, wide shots of meetings at the police station are contrasted by sweeping, dizzying pans of the river bed as Ma tries to puzzle out the un-put-together-able pieces of the puzzle.
All these uncertainties and contradictions lead to a dizzying crescendo where the failure of signifiers leads Ma into a break with reality, which is perhaps extra jarring as Zhu Yilong has played his detective stoic and calm throughout. “The actor’s strength should come from within,” Wei informed him when Zhu came to him for direction, suggesting the impressive understanding between performer and director that is evident throughout the feature.
I think it would be fair to say that Only the River Flows rewards careful viewing, but I’m also not sure what the reward ultimately is. It certainly left me with an unnerving sense of uncertainty. Maybe, in that case, you should also be careful what you wish for? Yes, that will do. I think?
Only The River Flows is out in cinemas from the 16th of August.
