Product Description

From acclaimed director Diao Yinan, The Wild Goose Lake is the eagerly anticipated follow-up to his 2014 Berlinale winning neo-noir Black Coal, Thin Ice. Toppling box office records in Diao's native China, The Wild Goose Lake "cements his status as a master filmmaker with another ingenious crime epic" (Little White Lies).When small-time mob leader Zhou Zenong (Chinese superstar Hu Ge) accidentally kills a cop, a dead-or-alive bounty is placed on his head, forcing him on the lam from both the police as well as dangerous gangsters out for the reward. Hiding out in China's densely populated (and deeply divided) Wuhan province, Zhou becomes entangled with a beautiful, enigmatic woman, who has mysterious intentions of her own. Featuring gorgeous, neon-drenched cinematography and bursts of shocking, expertly choreographed action, The Wild Goose Lake is "spellbinding" (Rolling Stone), "brilliant" (Indiewire) and "downright Hitchcockian" (AV Club).

Review

Winner - Best Director - NETPAC
Nominated - Palme d'Or - Cannes Film Festival
Nominated - Best International Film - Jerusalem Film Festival
Official Selection - Toronto Int'l. Film Festival
Official Selection - New York Film Festival
Official Selection - Melbourne Int'l. Film Festival
Official Selection - Vancouver Int'l. Film Festival
Official Selection - Munich Int'l. Film Festival ---

An invigorating, poetic, and discretely brilliant Chinese noir... - David Ehrlich, IndieWire

Diao Yinan delivers a definitive Chinese crime noir, in which the ravishing style and inventive staging form the substance. - Jessica Kiang, Variety

Diao Yinan cements his status as a master filmmaker with another ingenious crime epic. The Wild Goose Lake is another assured, exhilarating tale of criminality and the havoc it wreaks on interpersonal connection, with everything impressive about its predecessor attentive procedural detail, curious experiments with colour and shadow, action set pieces that'd make Michael Mann envious raised to the Nth degree. There's not a single false step in its two hours; every edit, every shot setup, every movement of the camera maximises the raw cinematic effect. There's power in Diao's more subdued passages, but when he really lets loose and the fists (or bullets, or strategically concealed booby-traps) start flying, this film's greatness transforms from the kind that sneaks up on you to the kind that blows you away. - Charles Bramesco, Little White Lies

[The Wild Goose Lake] doesn't recycle film noir conventions so much as contrive with a genuine sense of discovery...the movie exhilarates. --Glenn Kenny, The New York Times

Like a beautifully constructed puzzle box, The Wild Goose Lake various layers unfold in satisfying ways. With elegant violence, emotional richness and a complex yet coherent storyline, this is a rare bit of crime thriller treat that truly pays off. Above all, it's a highly entertaining film that doesn't for a moment eschew aesthetics, crafting a world of shadow and subterfuge that's terrific. The Wild Goose Lake is a hoot, a Chinese crime thriller that proves Diao Yinan is a new master of dark, thrilling noir. - Jason Gorber, Slash Film

Diao Yinan's twisting and turning nocturnal noir is full of moody attitude and glorious cinematography. - Dave Calhoun, Time Out

Diao Yinan's The Wild Goose Lake starts with a rainy night, a guy on the lam, a dame who sidles up to him and murmurs, 'Got a light?' In other words, this Chinese gangland thriller kicks off in classic noir style, and gets progressively noirer and more nocturnal as it goes on. The fourth feature from writer-director Diao, who made a major impression with 2014's investigative drama Black Coal, Thin Ice, this hyper-stylish manhunt drama laces slow-burn atmospherics with abrupt outbursts of staccato action, and boils down characterisation to the leanest of bare bones, making for minimalist existentialism in the style of Jean-Pierre Melville. - Jonathan Romney, Screen Daily

It s a spellbinding pulp noir with a stylish edge and a sui generis fatalism. (12 Best Movies at the Toronto Film Festival). --David Fear, Rolling Stone