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  Richard
  
Attwood
Suzhou River
China, 2000
[Ye Lou]
Xun Zhou, Hongshen Jia, Zhongkai Hua, Anlian Yao, An Nai
Drama
Most of this film is shot directly from the point of view of the narrator, an unseen videographer who travels the titular river recording the myriad stories played out on its banks and vessels. Even the scenes in which he is not involved could well be his thoughts of events as he interprets what he has been told be others and it is this that is initially the most striking element of Suzhou River. It makes the viewer feel much more involved in the unfolding tale, although at times the rapid cuts and shaky camera are unnecessarily disorientating.

The narrator begins to tell us about his life - his job, his girlfriend Meimei who he obsessively videos and his fascination with the people of
Suzhou River. But then this takes a back seat to his recounting of one of the many tales infamous within the community, of Mardar the motorcycle courier who is relentlessly searching the city for his lost love Mudan, who's body was never found after she threw herself into the river. But then this tragic story collides with that of our own narrator's as Mardar is convinced that he has finally found his long lost love and that she is Meimei. Obvious comparisons have been drawn to Vertigo's plot of a man undone by his lover's suicide and determination that he has found her again.

This debut feature from Chinese director Lou Ye benefits greatly from his unconventional style which seems to make the events more tangible. He portrays the river itself as a metaphor for life, its swirling eddies and undercurrents the many stories it keeps within its deep mysterious heart, with no effect on the mass flow of life, but turning the individual lives of thise involved upside down. The parts of the film dealing with the burgeoning affections of Mardar and Mudan are excellent (particularly for Zhou Xin, who plays both vastly different lead female roles equally well), however the events gather pace a little too quickly towards the end, rushing the story of the narrator and Meimei in comparson. The result of this is an ending which seems a tad abrupt and so the empathy for the narrator is not as heightened as it might have been, even with the great device of us seeing everything through his eyes. Despite this
Suzhou River is a stylishly original tale who's depth and undercurrents make it stand out from the majority of the flotsam and jetsam that our video stores carry.
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