Only the River Flows

In rural China in the 1990's, a woman's body is found by the river. Chief Inspector Ma Zhe is given the task of investigating the seemingly simple murder case and, under his direction, an arrest is soon made. His superiors congratulate him, but several clues and multiple murders force Ma Zhe to dig deeper and despite his superiors' orders, he continues to investigate the case. More and more, he becomes embroiled in something that challenges his sense of reality and his obsession grows. Ma Zhe follows a prime suspect who is linked to the victim, but keeps escaping. Other leads inadvertently expose the hidden lives of the community - be it an illicit affair between two poetry lovers, or a transvestite trying to hide his identity from the public. 

Only the River Flows is Wei Shujun's third feature film and is already a huge success in China. Less than a month after its release, the film was already one of China's highest-earning arthouse films. The grainy 16mm texture combined with lots of rain and fog make the movie fit right into the neo-noir genre. The film is based on the short novel Mistakes by the River by renowned Chinese writer Yu Hua.