Suzhou River

Beautiful, heartbreaking, visionary... The best response to Wong Kar Wai from the mainland. This was Shangai before becoming one of the most active powerhouses of the world's economy: a dilapidated riverside, seedy, seemingly out of Kazan's On the Waterfront and Lynch's Eraserhead. The scenes filmed from the narrator's balcony really reminded me of Rear Window. One of the themes of the film is - in some sort- voyeurism: the invisible narrator, feels much more like our eye into this tragic tale than a real factor. The real protagonists are MeiMei and Moudan, and on the other side, Mardar (played by the late Jia Hongsheng incredibly), that drive this neon-drenched, seedy, romantic noir. This was shot in a marvelous way. I really loved the fluidity of the camera and the intimacy of the shots. As i said, it's more like we are submerged into the movie, rather than being its spectators. I really wanted to watch this for more than 3 years and i'm glad i did. Because Suzhou River is a true masterpiece. My favorite shot is no doubt the one at 1:05:17; it captures both the otherworldy beauty and the unbelievable talent of Zhou Xun, making her seem like a porcelain doll cracked by tears.