Only The River Flows

UK Release Date. 5 October 2023
Certification. 12
Running Time. 1 hour 41 mins
Director. Wei Shujun
Cast. Chloe Maayan, Linkai Tong, Zhu Yilong.
Rating. 53%

Review.

Drawing upon early film noir for much of its style - particularly the distinctive cinematography - the Chinese arthouse film Only The River Flows with its open-ended narrative invites the audience to immerse themselves in the film's beguiling plot and form their own conclusion at the resolution of events.

Directed by Wei Shujun and starring Zhu Yilong, Only The River Flows is adapted from Yu Hua’s acclaimed novel, Mistakes By The River.

Set in the 1990s, Only The River Flows follows police detective, Ma Zhe (Zhu Yilong), as he investigates the murder of an elderly woman in a rural town in southern China. As the investigation develops, more secrets from the community come to light, along with further killings. Director Wei Shujun plays with the conventions and social expectations of local law enforcement and the toll taken on Ma Zhe’s mental stability - an increasingly unreliable narrator.

Director of Photography, Chengma Zhiyuan shot Only The River Flows largely on 16mm film, which doesn’t merely provide a dated celluloid look but a highly cinematic one. A washed-out pastel palette of blues and browns delightfully complements the torrents of rain and frosty rural landscapes. 

Only The River Flows is a throwback to a genre of bygone cinema. Whilst Wei Shujun's film is undoubtedly an atmospheric tour-de-force, the open-ended narrative results in an inconclusive, underwhelming and ultimately unsatisfactory resolution.