‘I think I saw her…’
I’ve reached that age now where I have become less curious about pop culture and cinema in particular. I’ve stopped working my way through all the top 100 lists and instead have settled on sports, action or horror movies from the ’80s and ’90s as my idea of a good time. Occasionally, I am forced out of my self-imposed cinematic stupor and into something a little more esoteric. Suzhou River, a film I was presented with as part of the podcast I occasionally appear on (but have never mentioned here because I’m terrible at self-promotion), is the first foreign language film I’ve sat through for a while (Oscar nominees aside), and it served as a timely reminder of how important it is to broaden one’s horizons from time to time…
Suzhou River is essentially a story within a story in which an unnamed videographer recounts the tale of Mardar (Jia Hongsheng), a motorcycle courier, and Moudan (Zhou Xun), the love of his life. Written and directed by Chinese writer-director Lou Ye, the film clips along across 83 breathless minutes and employs numerous examples of camera trickery and time jumps along the way. The heady mixture of handheld camera and gritty urban cityscapes gives Suzhou River an authentic, almost documentary feel, which contrasts nicely with the ethereal high contrast lighting. The two leads are great, the score fits perfectly, and the eccentric plotting recalls other quirky foreign language films from this era, such as Run Lola Run, as well as the work of Ye’s contemporary Wong Kar-Wai.
I’d never heard of this film until it was thrust upon me, but in the end, I thoroughly enjoyed it. Anyway. What’s that? Robocop 3? Why not?
