Black Coal, Thin Ice

Human limbs turn up scattered across coal plants in northern China. The investigation ends badly and the detective, Zhang, loses his job. Five years later, working as a factory security guard, similar killings begin again. The woman connected to both victims works at a dry cleaner's, and Zhang starts following her. The subject is not solving the murders but the decay of the man trying to. Zhang is drunk, unemployed and alone; whether he approaches the woman for the investigation or for something else is deliberately left unresolved. The form carries film noir onto snow. Neon signs, an ice rink, hair salons that stay open all night. Long takes and frozen streets make the American template of the genre unrecognisable. The Chinese title means Daylight Fireworks and refers to an image near the end; fireworks set off in daytime cannot be seen, only heard. Diao Yinan directs. The film won the Golden Bear at Berlin in 2014 and Liao Fan took the best actor prize at the same festival. Gwei Lun-Mei plays the woman. Who it is for: viewers who like slow crime films built on atmosphere. Who it is not for: anyone expecting a clean resolution; the film withholds information and leaves its ending open to argument.