A film noir film usually goes well. I at least usually see it as a safe bet. It doesn’t matter if you don’t end up understanding where the plot is going, if it’s fairly well done you’ll end up trapped by its atmosphere, its characteristic energy, the characters existing in dark places and trying to survive as best they can.
Motorcycles and ‘Rasputin’
We have talked about many good (and also varied) lately, which are being uploaded on different streaming platforms. Today we add one more, one of the most surprising that has come out in recent years and that can be seen streaming through Filmin. Quirky but magnetic, coming directly from China and capable of denouncing the harsh social reality that exists in the country. This is ‘The Wild Goose Lake’.
We find ourselves with a random gangster who has just been released from prison, but who has the misfortune to end up involved in a meeting of motorcycle gangs that ends up killing a policeman, so must run away. With a deliberately complex and non-linear narrative in the first act, we are observing the harsh situation on the streets and some biker criminal organizations where the common soldiers are little distinguishable from some exploited riders.
Diao Yinan wonderfully uses some neo-noir codes to portray the social decadence and corruption of the individual trapped in these systems, without renouncing touches of absurdity or intense colors. In fact, we could talk about “neon-noir” due to the use of lights, but the truth is that the whole use of colors is amazing and truly exemplary. It’s embarrassing that so many modern digital movies with more resources don’t look half as good as this one.
‘Wild Goose Lake’ has the ability to unsettle, but it also his ability to create hypnotic moments manages to captivate you. Even with something potentially hilarious, like undercover cops trying to capture a target camouflaged in a crowd dancing to a Boney M song in light-up sneakers, it manages to be exquisitely filmed and gets you inside.
His urban lyric is delicious. Her way of developing the story is disconcerting but it is not an obstacle to enjoy it, using a silent epic with which she becomes a really special movie. One of those cult jewels that deserve to be rescued whenever possible, because it is one of the biggest surprises of the new Chinese cinema that gives joy beyond the hype.
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