Official US Trailer for Unique ‘Only the River Flows’ Film from China
by Alex Billington
June 16, 2024
Source: YouTube
“Fate is all the truth we cannot see.” KimStim Films in the US has revealed an official trailer for Only the River Flows, a Chinese film originally from the 2023 Cannes Film Festival last year. This is now scheduled for a limited US release this summer, starting at Metrograph in NYC, then to LA, Toronto, and other cities. A chief of police in a small town investigates a series of strange murders on a riverside in rural China in the 1990s. An arrest is made quickly, clues push the policeman to dive deeper into the hidden behaviour of the locals. “What kind of darkness is truly at play here?” is the question that lingers on his mind. A mysterious, unique film-noir throwback with some intriguing meta scenes within it. “Equal parts atmospheric tour-de-force and beguiling puzzler, Only the River Flows is a masterfully styled ode to a bygone cinematic era and a sharp-edged portrait of provincial paranoia.” This stars Zhu Yilong, Chloe Maayan, Hou Tianlai, and Tong Linkai. This one is for all the real film nerds who love something distinctly cinematic and entrancing.
Here’s the official US trailer (+ posters) for Wei Shujun’s Only the River Flows, direct from YouTube:
1990s China. A woman’s body washes up in the local river. The chief of police, Ma Zhe, is tasked with the investigation. An obvious perp leads to a hasty arrest, though the mystery lingers in Ma Zhe’s mind. What kind of darkness is truly at play here? Director Wei Shujun’s murky throwback film noir, gritty, textured film grain captures the pulpy proceedings. Torrents of rain envelop the characters as they descend into madness in pursuit of the truth. Equal parts atmospheric tour-de-force and beguiling puzzler, Only the River Flows is a masterfully styled ode to a bygone cinematic era and a sharp-edged portrait of provincial paranoia. Only the River Flows, also known as 河边的错误 or He bian de cuo wu in Mandarin, is directed by Chinese indie filmmaker Shujun Wei, director of the two films Striding Into the Wind and Ripples of Life previously, plus a few other short films. The screenplay is written by Chunlei Kang and Shujun Wei; based on Yu Hua’s popular short novel “Mistakes by the River”. This initially premiered at the 2023 Cannes Film Festival last year, with stops at London and Vancouver. KimStim Films opens Only the River Flows in select US theaters on July 26th, 2024 (at Metograph in NYC) this summer. For more info, visit their official site.
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