SLIFF 2019 Review – THE WILD GOOSE LAKE

THE WILD GOOSE LAKE will screen at The Tivoli Theater (6350 Delmar) Saturday, Nov 9 at 9:45pm and Monday, Nov 11 at 9:25pm as part of this year’s St. Louis International Film Festival.Ticket information can be found HERE and HERE

Fleeing from the law and seeking redemption, gangster Zenong Zhou (Ge Hu) crosses paths with innocent-looking Aiai Liu (Lun-Mei Kwei), a girl with a secret who is risking everything to gain her freedom. As they are hunted on the shores of the Wild Goose Lake, Zhou must decide what he is willing to sacrifice both for this stranger and for the family he left behind. When the film debuted at Cannes this year, even Quentin Tarantineo queued up. The LA Times writes: “It’s not often that you see a Cannes auteur checking out the competition. But Tarantino was clearly as eager as anyone to see ‘The Wild Goose Lake,’ an ultra-moody, hyper-violent gangland thriller from a rising talent named Diao Yinan, who won the top prize at the 2014 Berlin International Film Festival for his wintry noir ‘Black Coal, Thin Ice.’ The plot, artfully kinked with flashbacks, is often a fast-moving (and slow-moving) blur. There are brawls and decapitations, shootouts and impalings, plus one sad, fugitive moment of intimacy in a world where human relations are almost entirely transactional.”

Review by Stephen Tronicek

There’s a shot near the beginning of Diao Yi’nan’s The Wild Goose Lake that floats with Aiai Liu (Lun-Mei Kwei) as she approaches the other protagonist Zenong Zhao (Ge Hu). It’s a beautiful shot but there’s something that seems off about it. The slow movement almost feels grating. The rhythm of it is uncomfortable, like it wants to go on long enough to become exasperating. This is how much of The Wild Goose Lake feels. As it’s oppressive story plays out, a weight holds on your shoulders. Something about the rhythm is off. We’re lost in the center of this story begging to be hypnotic but isn’t. IT’S PERFECT. 

    The film feels like getting dragged through the muddy underbelly of beachside organized crime. Taking place in the Goose Lake District, the film follows Zenong Zhao as he attempts to escape the authorities. He’s accidentally shot a police officer and now they’re cleaning house. He approaches Aiai Liu, a prostitute looking for her way out. Liu knows his wife and starts to assist Zhao in his escape. This puts them in contention with gang members, friends, and the cops. 

    All of this makes The Wild Goose Lake feel like a neo-noir  with all the grunge put back in. Whereas many neo-noirs have now leaned on stylization, The Wild Goose Lake leans on realism. The result is a movie where all the violence, the suffering, becomes shockingly clear. Everybody is put through the wringer to the point that even the “fun” violence (a head decapitation, murder by umbrella) hits with a poignancy a more flippant project would lose. It’s a great balance of tone.     Hopefully, all of this doesn’t dissuade you from seeing The Wild Goose Lake. As difficult as it is to experience, it is an experience worth taking.