Black Coal, Thin Ice is a majestic neo-noir.
Black Coal, Thin Ice(白日焰火)
✭ ✭ ✭ ✭ Read critic reviews
China · 2014
1h 46m
Director Diao Yi'nan
Starring Liao Fan, Kwai Lun-Mei, Wang Xuebing, Wang Jingchun
Genre Crime, Drama, Mystery, Thriller
Add to Watchlist
Please login to add films to your watchlist.
Two former cops return their attention to the series of murders that ended their careers after similar killings begin again. But what do skating rinks and coal shipments have to do with it? A neo-noir exploring the serpentine city, its neon lights, and its coal-black heart.
What are people saying?
What are critics saying?
The Hollywood Reporter by Deborah Young
If the plotting was only more coherent and audience-friendly and the story-telling more disciplined, the film's extraordinarily complex atmosphere would be irresistible.
The odd rhythm of very fast and slick followed by very slow and arty is difficult to settle into, and the film ultimately frustrates, willfully obscuring the apparatus of what appears at first to be a promising film noir framework.
A bleak but powerful, carefully controlled detective thriller in which — as with all the best noirs — there are no real heroes or villains, only various states of compromise.
If Diao’s intent on confounding us, he has the courtesy to do it with frequently astonishing style and verve.
Users who liked this film also liked
Stolen Kisses
(Baisers volés)
Antoine knows what he wants to do ... his problem is doing it.
- ✭ ✭ ✭ ✭
- France • 1968
- Director François Truffaut
- Cast Jean-Pierre Léaud, Claude Jade, Delphine Seyrig, Michael Lonsdale, Daniel Ceccaldi, Claire Duhamel
- Genre Comedy, Drama, Romance
- Available on Criterion Channel
Apur Sansar
(অপুর সংসার)
Apu is a jobless ex-student dreaming vaguely of a future as a writer. One day, an old friend talks him into taking a trip into the country to attend his cousin's wedding....
- ✭ ✭ ✭ ✭
- India • 1959
- Director Satyajit Ray
- Cast Soumitra Chatterjee, Sharmila Tagore, Alok Chakravarty, Swapan Mukherjee, Dhiresh Majumdar, Sefalika Devi
- Genre Drama, Romance
- Available on Criterion Channel, Max Amazon Channel, Max, Apple TV, Google Play Movies, Fandango At Home, Amazon Video, YouTube
Infernal Affairs II
(無間道II)
The Birth of a Legend
- ✭ ✭ ✭ ✭
- Hong Kong, Singapore, China • 2003
- Director Andrew Lau, Alan Mak
- Cast Anthony Wong, Eric Tsang, Carina Lau, Francis Ng, Edison Chen, Shawn Yue
- Genre Drama, Action, Thriller, Crime
- Available on Criterion Channel, Max Amazon Channel, Max, Apple TV, Google Play Movies, Fandango At Home, Amazon Video, YouTube
Assembly
(集结号)
Every sacrifice deserves to be immortalized.
- ✭ ✭ ✭ ✭
- China, Hong Kong • 2007
- Director Feng Xiaogang
- Cast Zhang Hanyu, Deng Chao, Yuan Wenkang, Tang Yan, Liao Fan, Baoqiang Wang
- Genre Action, History
- Available on No streaming locations found.
The Other Man
What If everything you believed was a lie?
- ✭ ✭
- United Kingdom, United States • 2008
- Director Richard Eyre
- Cast Liam Neeson, Antonio Banderas, Laura Linney, Romola Garai, Abigail Canton, Pam Ferris
- Genre Drama, Thriller, Mystery, Romance
- Available on Apple TV, Google Play Movies, Fandango At Home, Amazon Video, Microsoft Store, YouTube, Hoopla, Plex, Plex Channel
São Paulo, S.A.
(São Paulo, Sociedade Anônima)
Anguish and emotion in the big city
- ✭ ✭ ✭ ✭
- Brazil • 1965
- Director Luiz Sérgio Person
- Cast Walmor Chagas, Eva Wilma, Darlene Glória, Etty Fraser, Otelo Zeloni, Ana Esmeralda
- Genre Drama
- Available on No streaming locations found.
Iceman
(冰封俠:重生之門)
- ✭ ✭
- China, Hong Kong • 2014
- Director Law Wing-cheong
- Cast Donnie Yen, Baoqiang Wang, Eva Huang, Simon Yam, Yu Kang, Lam Suet
- Genre Adventure, Action, Science Fiction, Comedy, Fantasy
- Available on Amazon Prime Video, fuboTV, Peacock Premium, Peacock Premium Plus, Hi-YAH, Amazon Prime Video with Ads, Apple TV, Google Play Movies, Fandango At Home, Amazon Video, YouTube, FlixFling, Tubi TV, The Roku Channel, Pluto TV, VIX , Freevee, Plex, Plex Channel
A Touch of Sin
(天注定)
Sin is in all of us --- it just takes different forms.
- ✭ ✭ ✭ ✭
- China, Japan, France • 2013
- Director Jia Zhangke
- Cast Jiang Wu, Baoqiang Wang, Zhao Tao, Zhang Jiayi, Luo Lanshan, Han Dong
- Genre Drama
- Available on AMC+ Amazon Channel, Kino Film Collection, Apple TV, Google Play Movies, Fandango At Home, YouTube, Kanopy
Tokyo Family
(東京家族)
- ✭ ✭ ✭ ✭
- Japan • 2013
- Director Yoji Yamada
- Cast Isao Hashizume, Kazuko Yoshiyuki, Satoshi Tsumabuki, Yu Aoi, Satoshi Tsumabuki, Masahiko Nishimura
- Genre Drama, Family
- Available on No streaming locations found.
Christmas Rose
(聖誕玫瑰)
- ✭ ✭ ✭
- Hong Kong • 2013
- Director Charlie Yeung
- Cast Aaron Kwok, Xia Yu, Gwei Lun-mei, Chang Chen, Qin Hailu, Liu Kai-Chi
- Genre Drama
- Available on AsianCrush
Jacky in the Kingdom of Women
(Jacky au royaume des filles)
- ✭ ✭ ✭
- France • 2014
- Director Riad Sattouf
- Cast Vincent Lacoste, Charlotte Gainsbourg, Didier Bourdon, Anémone, Valérie Bonneton, Michel Hazanavicius
- Genre Comedy
- Available on Apple TV, Google Play Movies, Fandango At Home, Amazon Video, YouTube, Tubi TV, VUDU Free
Listen to Me Marlon
No talking heads, no interviewees, just Brando on Brando and life.
- ✭ ✭ ✭ ✭
- United Kingdom • 2015
- Director Stevan Riley
- Cast Marlon Brando, Stella Adler, Bette Davis, Montgomery Clift, Anna Kashfi
- Genre Documentary
- Available on fuboTV, Paramount+ Amazon Channel, Paramount+ Roku Premium Channel, Paramount+ with Showtime, Paramount Plus Apple TV Channel , Google Play Movies, Fandango At Home, Amazon Video, YouTube
The Exclusive: Beat the Devil's Tattoo
(특종: 량첸살인기)
ONCE IT GOES ON AIR, THE TRUTH IS MEANINGLESS
- ✭ ✭ ✭
- Korea • 2015
- Director Roh Deok
- Cast Cho Jung-seok, Lee Ha-na, Lee Mi-sook, Kim Dae-myung, Kim Eui-sung, Bae Sung-woo
- Genre Thriller, Mystery
- Available on No streaming locations found.
Soul Mate
(七月与安生)
- ✭ ✭ ✭ ✭
- China, Hong Kong • 2016
- Director Derek Tsang
- Cast Zhou Dongyu, Ma Sichun, Toby Lee, Li Ping, Cai Gang, Li Haofang
- Genre Romance, Drama
- Available on Amazon Video, Kanopy, Hoopla
Mr. Donkey
(驴得水)
- ✭ ✭ ✭ ✭
- China • 2016
- Director Shen Zhou, Liu Lu
- Cast Ren Suxi, Li Da, Liu Shuailiang, Guanjin Bu, Pei Kuishan, Han Yanbo
- Genre Comedy, Drama
- Available on Amazon Prime Video, Amazon Prime Video with Ads, Apple TV, Tubi TV, AsianCrush, Freevee
The Wild Goose Lake
(南方车站的聚会)
A gangster, recently freed from prison, finds trouble amid Wuhan's shadows and neon.
- ✭ ✭ ✭ ✭
- China, France • 2019
- Director Diao Yi'nan
- Cast Hu Ge, Gwei Lun-mei, Liao Fan, Wan Qian, Qi Dao, Huang Jue
- Genre Crime, Drama
- Available on Apple TV, Google Play Movies, Fandango At Home, Amazon Video, YouTube, Kanopy, Hoopla