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Introduction

China / 2023 / 101 min
Director：WEI Shujun

A rural Chinese town in the 1990s. Detective Ma Zhe, Chief of the Criminal Police, is placed in charge of the investigation when an elderly woman's corpse is found by the river. His team soon arrests a suspect whom his higher-ups delightedly pronounce to be the killer, as they move to close the case. Yet more bodies are found and when Ma Zhe discovers that a woman spotted at the scene has vanished, his suspicions are raised and he opposes his superiors, continuing the investigation-with unexpected consequences. A film noir shot in 16mm, striking for its rich visual palette of reddish brown, faded blue, and shadows with a spectrum of blacks. A dark comedy where it always feels like something unjust is transpiring, the constantly changing trajectory of the case investigation is depicted with humor. WEI Shujun shines in his social commentary of China prior to the recent economic boom and after the Tiananmen Square incident.
His third feature film which also had its premiere at the Cannes Film Festival like the first two.

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