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Stars indicate the most critically-acclaimed movies.
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Suzhou River
Strand Releasing
FILM:
MPAA RATING: Not rated
Starring
Xun Zhou,
Hongshen Jia,
Anlian Yao,
An Nai,
and
Zhongkai Hua
Marda (Jia), a motorcycle courier becomes obsessed with a beautiful young girl named Moudan (Zhou), whom he falls in love with only to lose her in a botched kidnap attempt to gain money from her wealthy father. Moudan jumps into the murky waters of the Suzhou River and becomes lost forever. Marda is sentenced for three years, but upon his return he meets MeiMei (Zhou), an identical look-alike whom he suspects is actually Moudan, or is she? (Strand Releasing)
| GENRE(S): |
Drama
|
| WRITTEN BY: |
Ye Lou
|
| DIRECTED BY: |
Ye Lou
|
| RELEASE DATE: |
DVD: September 11, 2001
Theatrical: November 8, 2000
|
| RUNNING TIME: |
83 minutes, Color |
| ORIGIN: |
China / Germany |
| LANGUAGE(S): |
Mandarin (with English subtitles) |
All critic scores are converted to a 100-point scale. If a critic does not indicate a score, we assign a score based on the general impression given by the text of the review. Learn more...
90
Time
Richard Corliss
Whatever city this one is showing in...move there.
90
Film.com
Peter Brunette
A delight to the eye, ear, and mind
90
LA Weekly
Ella Taylor
A waterlogged little jewel of a Chinese movie that you must rush out and see at once or else.
89
Mr. Showbiz
Michael Atkinson
Suzhou River might be more pulpy than profound, but it still sings its old song better than we've heard in years.
83
Portland Oregonian
Kim Morgan
Seems deeply influenced by American film noir, the Western fairy tale (in this case, mermaids) and the works of Alfred Hitchcock in particular.
80
Washington Post
Desson Thomson
A Chinese film whose simple surface belies greater mysteries.
80
Variety
David Rooney
A compelling story of love and obsession whose progress mirrors the sinuous flow of the Shanghai waterway that supplies its title.
80
Los Angeles Times
Kenneth Turan
Daring and edgy, it's a German co-production (critical for avoiding censorship) that's filled with the intoxicating excitement of creating images for the screen.
75
New York Post
Lou Lumenick
This intriguing film is the best variation on "Vertigo" since Brian DePalma's far more polished "Obsession" (1976), which ranks with the best Hitchcock knockoffs of all time.
75
San Francisco Chronicle
Peter Stack
The film is energized by the naturalness of its characters and the way in which it plays a game of mixed signals and double illusions.
75
Miami Herald
Marta Barber
Deliciously confusing.
75
Christian Science Monitor
David Sterritt
This offbeat Chinese production is at once an innovative art film, a traditional suspense yarn, and a moody voyage through Shanghai's gritty back roads.
75
Seattle Post-Intelligencer
William Arnold
Casts a dreamy romantic spell that lingers pleasantly in the mind for a long time after experiencing it.
75
New York Daily News
Jami Bernard
This Asian-flavored Hitchcock is a complicated tale with no easy answers.
70
The New York Times
Dana Stevens
Mr. Lou lets it play on for too long. Suzhou River offers impeccable attitude and captivating atmosphere, but little emotional or intellectual impact.
67
Entertainment Weekly
Owen Gleiberman
Has more atmosphere than it does coherence; it's a series of floating tricks and gambits in search of a resolution. Even so, Ye's ''Vertigo'' fever is contagious.
60
TV Guide
Ken Fox
A little too derivative of much better movies to succeed on its own. However, in the context of recent Chinese movies, it's a pretty amazing piece of work.
50
Village Voice
J. Hoberman
A ghost story that's shot as though it were a documentary -- and a documentary that feels like a dream. Almost too fashionable for its own good.
 The average user rating for this movie is 7.0 (out of 10) based on 5 User Votes
Note: User votes are NOT included in the Metascore calculation.
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