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Black Coal, Thin Ice

Play trailer Poster for Black Coal, Thin Ice 2014 1h 46m Crime Drama Mystery & Thriller Play Trailer Watchlist
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96% Tomatometer 26 Reviews 61% Popcornmeter 500+ Ratings
Two former cops start investigating the series of murders that tanked their careers when the killings begin again.
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Black Coal, Thin Ice

Critics Reviews

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Tara Brady Irish Times 06/13/2015
4/5
Black Coal, Thin Ice twists and turns as it goes: even the jolting electronic music over the end credits springs another surprise. Go to Full Review
David Ehrlich Little White Lies 06/05/2015
5/5
Maybe the angriest movie from mainland China since Li Yang's Blind Mountain. Go to Full Review
Kate Muir The Times (UK) 06/04/2015
4/5
What's fascinating is not merely the plot, but the wonderfully shot background, red and green neon on a grey townscape. Go to Full Review
Dustin Chang Floating World 02/21/2021
Diao's China, the Beijing Olympics still 4 years away, is still very much provincial ("Who brought in a horse in my apartment?"), yet fast changing and cold-hearted. The film announces the arrival of another major auteur in Chinese cinema. Go to Full Review
Panos Kotzathanasis Asian Movie Pulse 12/20/2020
"Black Coal, Thin Ice" is a great art-house noir that thrives on both contextual and visual level, with the awards it received being utterly justified. Go to Full Review
Nicholas Bell IONCINEMA.com 10/20/2020
4/5
Bleak but superbly moody, Diao Yinan's Black Coal, Thin Ice is an exciting homage to classic American film noir from a completely unexpected source, and much more intelligent than the simplicity of its title indicates. Go to Full Review
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Audience Reviews

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Sarfaraz A Apr 12 Diao Yinan wrote and directed the Chinese criminal thriller. Starring Liao Fan and Gwei Lun-mei. The film earned the Golden Bear award at the Berlin International Film Festival. The movie begins in 1999, when the mutilated body of someone is discovered at a coal mining site. The film then continues in 2004, when similar instances recur and detective Liao pursues a woman who works at a laundry shop and was the wife of the man whose mutilated body was discovered. The film is lengthy. The photography is magnificent, with strong performances from the lead actors. Gwei devoured the film with her attractiveness, while Liao with his obsession. However, although being incredibly intriguing, the criminal plot was ultimately unsatisfactory at the climax. See more b s Mar 25 上‘黑色电影’的课,没有讲到这一个片子,飞机上看了一下,不逊于其它的电影。如果杜琪峰的电影被称之为九龙黑色电影,那么这个很配得上一个东北黑色电影的名号。非常有一种怀旧风格之下的乱世氛围。但缺点也有,线索凌乱的像廉价衣服上的线头,女主角发挥空间有限等等。 See more 02/06/2018 This is a bit of a mixed bag. There is plenty to admire but for me it does not quite know how to end. Vivid portrayal of misogyny. See more 08/26/2017 ???????????????Blu-ray??????????????????????????????????????????????? ???????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????? See more Joan P R @JoanPR 05/20/2017 Interesting portrayal of the hard life and ugly urban landscapes of a cold and grey province in China. As a detective story it can be painful to watch, with the police always slow and clumsy, or otherwise trigger-happy. The gender and sexual politics are not brilliant either, but perhaps this is the point - how awful it must be for a woman in China. See more 01/07/2017 Well shot, but is too by-the-book for its own good. See more Read all reviews
Black Coal, Thin Ice

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Movie Info

Synopsis Two former cops start investigating the series of murders that tanked their careers when the killings begin again.
Director
Diao Yinan
Producer
Vivian Qu, Shen Yang
Screenwriter
Diao Yinan
Production Co
China Film, Boneyard Entertainment China, Omnijoi Media
Genre
Crime, Drama, Mystery & Thriller
Original Language
Chinese
Release Date (Streaming)
Sep 28, 2015
Runtime
1h 46m
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