Black Coal Thin Ice turned out to be pleasant surprise. I only got it because it was on the discount bin and I missed watching a Chinese film. I was not expecting this. First off the story is told in that certain segmented way that I like sometimes, since when it works it ends up being brilliant (The Taste of Tea is a good example of this type of storytelling, or maybe To The Wonder, although not as good), anyway this one first and foremost had that clean cinematography that appeals to me even when the film is not so good. This one was good. It is a murder mystery with a rather good twist that I didn't see coming for a long time. There is an abundance of different shots and I liked the close up ones but the mise en scene in the middle shots were very very good (especially shooting in the hair dresser scene, or the motorcycle theft scene)
The protagonist is not a likable man. In fact he is a brute who actually assaults his ex girlfriend(wife?) after they have sex in a hotel room. The assault is at the train station, he actually literally jumps at her and gropes her right there and then. Luckily the train arrives and she is able to get away, cursing him. This guy ends up getting out of the police force (though not due to his personality failings) 6 years later we see him working as a security guard at a factory. He is still an unpleasant person.
After meeting with his ex colleague and getting sucked into the case that caused a lot of pain to him, he tries to get the vicious killer but also as with many of the humanity, there is good and there is bad in everyone.
I really liked this one and highly recommend - although it is artsy and the pace is not speedy so be warned.
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