Only the River Flows Review: Police Work Makes Time Stand Still

Police Work Makes Time Stand Still In Only the River Flows

Detective Ma Zhe (Yilong Zhu) wanders through the frames of Wei Shujun’s period noir Only the River Flows, smoking cigarettes like carbon monoxide is actually his oxygen, almost always bedecked in his leather coat. These are the trademark symbols of a weary cop who has worked too long and seen too much. Ma Zhe’s protective outerwear doesn’t protect him at all, of course, not even against the weather; he’s often seen shivering and hugging himself for warmth in the cold rural nights he spends chasing a murderer.

Only the River Flows takes place in Banpo Town, a fictional riverside hamlet, in 1990s China. Ma Zhe, already on the cusp of being jaded when we meet him at the start of the film, is tasked with solving the murder of an elderly woman, whose dead body washes up on the shores of said river; Shujun makes hay of the “case closed!” trope, wherein the culprit is found too soon, and too easily, to satisfy the hero’s internal drive to pursue the truth and find justice. It’s the “madman” (Chunlei Kang), says Ma Zhe’s boss (Tianlai Hou) and his peers – a taciturn, behaviorally challenged man, pseudo-adopted by the elderly woman. Because he’s such an obvious subject, the audience knows that he isn’t the guy, and that the quick solution is neither about truth nor justice, but about appearances. The chief wants Ma Zhe’s investigation over and done with, wrapped with a neat little bow on top. Ma Zhe’s gut gets in the way.

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It isn’t just instinct that holds up the film’s proceedings, either. It’s Ma Zhe’s impending fatherhood. Quietly, delicately, Only the River Flows uses the madman as a foil for all of the anxieties baked into every new parent-to-be. A doctor tells Ma Zhe and his wife Bai Jie (Chloe Maayan) that there’s a 10% chance that their baby will be born with a genetic defect that would stymie their cognitive growth; suddenly the madman ceases to be a mere murder suspect, and instead turns into a window for what Ma Zhe’s unborn child might be like. Immediately upon coming home from that awkward visit with the doctor, Ma Zhe practically orders Bai Jie to abort the baby.

His projected neuroses don’t have the intended effect. Time-wise, Only the River Flows puts less emphasis on Bai Jie’s inflamed reaction than on the fact that Ma Zhe’s job has put him in a place where he’s swift to make such a personal declaration about his wife’s bodily autonomy. The man is not well. Shujun’s script, co-written with Yu Hua and Kang, eschews any viewer hand-holding, keeping its messages and themes backgrounded; if there is a greater context for the film’s plot, perhaps it lies in its depiction of law enforcement in mainland China, and the toll police work takes on the people conducting it, though Western critics lacking background in contemporary Chinese social and political mores can at best only speculate at best.

Less speculative is Ma Zhe’s psychology. He starts Only the River Flows intact, and over time splinters become cracks become gaping chasms in his mental health. It’s a gradual breakdown, complemented by Chengma Zhiyuan’s thoughtful and measured cinematography; every shot feels lived-in, with each detail given atmospheric purpose. The effect is the establishment of a world that feels static, in stark contrast to Ma Zhe’s slow fracturing. The river is the only entity in the movie with the freedom to keep going, steadily, unchanged and unbothered, a gurgling symbol of a peace Ma Zhe is denied by his deep-rooted misgivings about his job.

Shujun’s filmmaking sets up nature as aspirational, a place to go where one can escape the uncertainties of civilization; at the same time, nature practically taunts Ma Zhe as he caves from the pressure of the investigation, culminating in a shocking dream sequence that one day may rank among the great nightmares enacted in cinema. Everywhere Ma Zhe turns, a new crime or barbarity or tragedy appears where none had been before, all along that riverbank. He can’t solve the crime. He can’t get away from the spot where it happened. He can’t live his life in the waking world because he’s stuck in his head – a man interrupted, unable to focus on anything other than blood, the madman, and the dead. Meanwhile, the river moves on.

Director: Wei Shujun
Writers: Wei Shujun, Chunlei Kang, Yu Hua
Starring: Yilong Zhu, Chloe Maayan, Chunlei Kang, Tianlai Hou
Release Date: July 26, 2024

Bostonian culture journalist Andy Crump covers the movies, beer, music, and being a dad for way too many outlets, perhaps even yours. He has contributed to Paste since 2013. You can find his collected work at his personal blog. He’s composed of roughly 65% craft beer.

Police Work Makes Time Stand Still In Only the River Flows