The Wild Goose Lake (2019) User Reviews

A unique Chinese crime film

[eddie_baggins · 6/10 · 8 December 2019]

Filmed in competition at this year's Cannes Film Festival, Chinese gangster thriller The Wild Goose Lake is an accessible and stylistic crime film that brings the visual sensibilities of filmmakers like Michael Mann and Nicolas Winding Refn to a whole new landscape.

Directed by Yi'nan Diao, Lake is the type of film that favors visual and composition over dialogue and character building, as we follow Ge Hu's wounded gangster Zenong Zhou, who finds himself wanted and hunted by cops and fellow criminals alike as he attempts to survive by hiding out in the lawless and violence ridden area of Wild Goose Lake.

It's a great set-up and Diao makes good use of his unique surrounds as the films unique time and place helps mask the fact that the story at the heart of Lake is one we've seen done countless times before from various corners of the globe.

It's a good thing the films are so visually pleasing, from night time scooter rides to bloodthirsty fight scenes, as Hu gets lumped with a rather charisma free centerpiece that never feels as alive as the places he finds himself in, while all of the films supports feel rather forgettable and cookie-cutter also in a landscape filled with generic goons, cops and paperback style token love interests and female hangers-on.

Despite the weak plot line and even weaker caricatures, Lake manages to hold your interest throughout as we remain unsure where things will go and Diao makes sure that every scene is filled with wonderfully framed and captured imagery, often basked in a neon glow and scored moodily, Lake is feast for the senses that doesn't engage the heart but certainly engages aesthetically in a way that is exciting for Chinese cinema moving forward.

Final Say -

The Wild Goose Lake is a crime film that's going to be a big hit for those that have enjoyed other recent visually focused offerings like Only God Forgives and Drive and while the film fails to break any new ground, its intriguing setting and design makes this a sensory feast with a fresh Chinese twist.

3 umbrella's out of 5

An excellent gangster flick.

[MOscarbradley · 8/10 · 2 March 2020]

Gang warfare in Wuhan in this highly stylized Chinese gangster movie. There isn't a great deal that's new about Yi'nan Diao's "The Wild Goose Lake". Walter Hill, Jean-Pierre Melville or more recently Michael Mann could have made this but Diao's use of flashbacks to propel the story and his superb use of locations certainly give this an edge. Despite the fatalistic tone it's hardly what you would call existential despite moving at a fairly leisurely pace. The plot isn't always easy to follow and sometimes it's hard to know who belongs to whose gang or who's a cop and who isn't.

As a cop killer on the run, Ge Hu is as cool as they come; in another lifetime Delon or Belmondo might have played this part and Lun-Mei Kwei is excellent as the film's femme fatale. In the end there is more atmosphere than action and the film's look finally overwhelms its content but it's great that in this day and age this kind of gangster film is being made and that China has taken such a fundamentally American genre and twisted it to its own ends.

How far can you run?

[Vartiainen · 6/10 · 10 October 2019]

Hu Ge plays Zhou Zenong, an ex-con and a leader of a minor crime family mostly specializing in motorcycle thefts. Unfortunately, a quarrel with another crime family has him accidentally shoot a police officer, mistaking the man for one of his enemies. Now he's on the run and ends up near Wild Goose Lake, a lake resort known for its prostitutes. You can definitely disappear in a place like that. But does he manage to pull it off?

The story revolves around Zhou and Liu Aiai (Gwei Lun-mei), one of the local prostitutes, whose pimp is a known associate of Zhou's. Liu is made to contact Zhou because she's not immediately known to the police, and the rest evolves from that.

If I had to describe the style of the film, I'd say it's a weird mixture of John Woo and Kim Ki-duk. With more emphasis on Kim. It definitely wants to be a crime thriller, but it's very slow and thoughtful about it. The film has this serenity to it. People are in a rush, it's a tense situation, but there are still moments just to have a conversation or to get lost in your thoughts. Have a moment of introspection.

Until the film decides it's time for the final action scene, when all bets are suddenly off. It's a jarring mixture to say the least, but I can't say I minded it.

If I had to name one flaw, I'd say the plot is a touch meandering. The slow style works surprisingly well, but whenever the story needs to move forward, it takes a while to do so and jumps through a few hoops too many.

Still, if you're looking for a Chinese crime drama, you could do a lot worse.

Forgettable

[valleyjohn · 6/10 · 5 September 2020]

I have to say I was really disappointed with this . It was recommended as sleazy Noir movie but I just found it dull. There is only so much I can take of people chain smoking and looking moody .

Fleeing from the law, gangster Zenong Zhou crosses paths with an innocent-looking woman named Aiai Liu . Unbeknownst to Zhou, she holds a significant secret. Zhou must then confront the limits of what he is willing to sacrifice both for this stranger and for the family he left behind.

As well as being as dull as dishwater , the characters we're uninspiring and I couldn't care less what happened to them . There were too many people getting involved with finding Zhou and it diluted any interest I might have.

The one good thing is that it looked great . Set at night , the scenery is fantastic . There is something about the back streets of China that look great on the big screen but sadly that's the only positive and I'm sure by tomorrow I will have forgotten about most of this film .

THE WILD GOOSE LAKE is still a wide ride to behold mesmerizingly for Chinese audience who are craving for something more

[lasttimeisaw · 7/10 · 12 December 2019]

"Since the film is entirely spoken in Wuhan dialect (kudos to the main cast and their dialect coaches), for the majority of Chinese audience, which means subtitles is a requisite to understand the plot, Diao perceptibly carves out a tenuous mutual attraction between Zenong and Aiai, and the two fine actors exhibit tenacious resilience in restraint and nuances. For Hu Ge, it is also a physical transmogrification that persuasively shucks off his heartthrob mass appeal and signifies a wide road ahead in the mode of a serious thespian; as for Taiwanese actress Gwei Lunmei, who also triumphantly conceals her modern-look and urban delicacy, eloquently morphs into a conflicted character living in the margin with no hope in sight, during a nocturnal boat trip on the placid lake, the vestigial human-to-human compassion and connection brings a chink of warmth into this largely grim tale."

read my full review on my blog: cinema omnivore, thanks

A rare gem of a movie

[ayoreinf · 10/10 · 30 July 2019]

I don't rate films 10 very often, you can check my rating history and see for yourselves. this one is a rare combination of technical mastery, as manifest in superb chinematography and lighting work, great editing, amazing acting, that is mainly the two leads who really shine all the way through, Ge Hu as the male lead and Lun-Mei Kwei who in my humble opinion has the most expressive poker face I've ever seen. That is as long as she carries her poker face, when the time comes you'll find she does have more than one facial expression.

On top of all that, we get a tight story of a Greek tragedy proportions set in modern china, depicting a dark and un forgiving world that borrows a lot from the classics of Melville. If you remember Melville's attitude to the famous "honor among thieves" you'll know what to expect from this movie too. But do come with an open mind - you'll be blown away.

Not the correct title of the film

[Quannianjiexia · 6/10 · 19 March 2020]

The film is more like to express the background of the era.Whether it is an old life scene more than ten years ago, or an authentic character in the market, or a strange and complicated social environment, it reflects the memory impression of the previous generation. The film is very slow. The use of this era-rich background in combination with even a more deliberate literary and artistic approach to telling the story, although it is indeed true to the story itself, is undoubtedly a clever act of appreciation to the audience.

Why you should watch this film

[trpuk1968 · 10/10 · 15 March 2020]

If you enjoy neo noir, specifically films from directors such as Michael Mann (Thief, Heat) or Jean Pierre Melville (Le Cercle Rouge especially) then this will be right up your rain slicked neon lit boulevard. Similarly it'll likely appeal to fans of 'Asian extreme' cinema and indeed anyone interested in or simply curious about contemporary China and her cultural products. Grounded in believable realism whilst being highly stylised by virtue of action taking place in locales which exist, not film sets. This isn't a China of shiny high skyscrapers and jaw dropping surveillance technologies, instead it's one of dingy backstreets, cheap restaurants, second hand stores, a cheap and plasticky sheen lit mainly with lurid artificial light. I say 'China' in quotation marks because as another reviewer pointed out it's set in a particular province using local dialect. Reminding us China isn't some monolith, that there's great diversity in this huge nation. There's an obvious debt to films by Hong Kong director John Woo - it rains a lot, most of the action takes place at night soaked in a putrid colour cast of neon and sodium street lights. Woo of course being indebted himself to an earlier generation of directors... 125cc motorbikes and scooters are, for most people living on the Latin American, Asian, African continents, their main experience of private motorised transport. Wild Goose Lake is innovative and impressive in this form of transport (rather than conventional gangster cinematic conventions of big black SUV's with tinted windows) being central to the narrative. It is something of a slow burner and I found myself restless during the first twenty minutes. Which is the point, to make you the viewer feel what the characters are feeling, inertia. Waiting. Not quite sure what's going on. If you're more accustomed to Hollywood action gangster movies this will reward but you need to be patient. Give it time and it will deliver. I promise. Don't let subtitles put you off. I watched it in France with French subtitles and didn't have trouble following. While relations between characters became confusing that didn't detract from my enjoyment this movie is driven by action and mise en scene rather than dialogue. The mise en scene or what you see works to reflect and comment on the interior psychological (and exterior) worlds of the characters. One amazing scene towards the climax set in a dimly lit apartment block alludes to trash, with the implication of the characters as literally rubbish. By contrast, another scene uses washing machines in a massively impressive stroke of sheer stylistic inventiveness. Creative violence is all the more astounding being beautifully choreographed, consisting of actual stunts instead of fast cut editing and CGI. Once again, stylistically satisfying innovativeness to the art of killing will delight martial arts fans and jaded movie goers (such as this reviewer) alike. However, what else would you expect from the culture which gave the world kung fu and pioneered the martial arts film genre? French director Jean Pierre Melville nailed the thin line dividing cops from gangsters in films like Le Cercle Rouge (a cop is literally joined to his quarry with a handcuff, said cop lives alone with his pet cats who're surely analogous to the criminals he pursues). A similar line is drawn here, making explicit the symbiotic relationship the police have with the criminals they pursue. A similar fatalism also operates and I loved the way that, even though we know where the Ge Hu character is headed, the journey there is nonetheless thoroughly enjoyable. Liu Aiai is superb as the poker faced hooker. Instead of the femme fatale, she's all the more mysterious, her motivations never quite clear. She's being used, in that sense she's the quintessential noir character caught up in events beyond her control. However she's aware she's being used and it suits her purposes to pretend otherwise. I need to watch this film again. My purpose here isn't to describe the plot but to highlight why I think you should watch this film. Finally, the total lack of irony or post modern referencing of other films is a delight. Sure there's the familiar ingredients of neo noir but they're combined into something very fresh and exciting. Watch for the astonishing 'Rasputin' disco scene and I think you'll agree.

I wouldn't have thought there was anything more left to squeeze out of neo noir then along comes this. Astounding, audacious and amazing.

MINIMALISTIC DIALOGUES&SLOW PACED BUT AT THE SAME TIME WELL ACTED AND VISUALLY ATTRACTIVE

[Saanwithhisstupidthoughts · 7/10 · 19 May 2021]

It's very slow paced and has minimilistic dialogues but well acted out and visually the neonoir environment looks beautiful too

A tale of crime chase gangster rivalry theft murders and betrayals

Definitely a good crime movie that's worth a watch.

Just not much there

[latinfineart · 5/10 · 3 September 2020]

There was really nothing about this film that I found engaging. The film was extremely dark, and I usually like dark and moody movies, but this was just a poverty-stricken, rat infested, horrifically ugly version of China. It didn't feel like there was much of a story, I didn't find the characters particularly engaging and the lead female role had one expression the entire movie. It just didn't feel like the story went anywhere, there were way too many young gang bangers, and there wasn't really a coherent narrative.

There was nothing about this film that was entertaining. I guess I'm a naysayer because looking at the other reviews those people seem to be watching a different movie than I was seeing.

The Future of Cinema - has arrived

[Trey_BigTime_Film_Critic · 10/10 · 31 July 2019]

When I saw Wong Kar-Wai's "In the Mood for Love"(2000) with Maggie Cheung - I knew we were watching a complete new cinema that would one day self-realise into epic cinema ~ epic Chinese cinema. And I have now seen that realisation in The Wild Goose Lake. This film is like a cross between Godard's Breathless and de Sica's Bicycle Thieves - and is so satisfying you could watch it upside down. It is possibly the grittiest film I have ever seen, with the urgency and cinematic style of French cinema of the 1960s - where the possibilities are endless and every new film in this genre will be waited for in anticipation.

A movie I could not connect with

[gcarpiceci · 2/10 · 7 January 2020]

I'm afraid I am going against the main stream here, as I could never connect with the movie. For those raised with Western cinema, there is a great deal of cultural diversity here, granted; there is also the fact that the whole movie is shot in semi darkness and I lost who was doing what to whom a few times. I also have to say that I thought the use of the camera and of photography/lights/colours was quite intriguing. But I'm afraid cinematic virtuosity is not enough in my view to make a good movie; namely, I found the plot just too thin to sustain a compelling movie. Cinema remains for me, first and foremost, entertainment and this was for me plain boring.

Fast Paced, Visually Arresting Mobsters-On-Bike Tale

[roger-99-171599 · 8/10 · 21 February 2020]

Rain falls hard over a remote area where a mobster-on-the-run awaits instructions from a mysterious woman; the camera captures the dazzling, stylish and inventive visions of director Diao Yinan as he opens this action-packed thriller demonstrating how poetically he conceives a scene. Bleeding, hurt and wanted, Zenong has wrongly shot a cop, while on a competition with other gangster families, in order to claim control over the drug/theft most profitable streets. Aiai is a hustler and "bath lover"- a Chinese modern version of prostitution- who is working on both sides, struggling to survive as a mediatior on the bloodshed war between the gangsters' families and the police seeking to avenge their colleague. As they wait for their next move, they both narrate in flashbacks the circumnstances prior, when the street war sparkled a revolution on the local criminal business. An electrifying, fast-paced, ultra violent and seductive neo-noir thriller, Yinan obviously understands of visual techniques, conceiving each frame as a piece of art in movement, with lyrical, glamorous observations on the details, on the silent moments embracing the unexpected, the subtle eroticism, the rain, the neon lights on the roads, but most impressively how he extracts poetry from the bloody confrontations and its uncontrollable shootings. Addressing male rivalry and dominance, pride and greed, it's a riveting, visually-arresting and superbly crafted mobster-on-bikes tale.

Nocturnal animals

[w-71474 · 8/10 · 30 April 2020]

Diao Yinan 's third feature-length feature film presents a unique and unprecedented temperament in the previous Chinese-language movies. Although this style is not original in film history, as a purely Chinese-language movie, it may be historically Still the first time.

Breaking away from the context of traditional Chinese art films, this film presents a complex look and feel, on the one hand, it is addictive and shocking to the film's audio-visual, on the other hand, because of looking at those screen faces that we are familiar with , The weirdness of performing with a rare performance rhythm.

"Southern Station Party" set the story background in Wuhan. In this city known as one of the "Four Hot Stoves", the car thief Zhou Zenong played by Hu Ge accidentally shot a policeman in the fire of an opponent gang. The police issued a price tag of 300,000 yuan for Zhou Zenong. Zhou Zenong, who became a fugitive, fled in the wild goose lake in Wuhan's "outside of law", but accidentally met Liu Aiai (Guilin Magnesium), an acquaintance who didn't know her in the process. ...



85% of the "Southern Station Party" is a night show, like the night show 25 minutes before the start of the movie. But the night scenes in the film are not a single rendering of a dark atmosphere, and the night under the lens of Diao Yinan is layered. This is due to the ingenious use of neon lights, shadows and sounds.

The film is full of super bright neon elements, whether it is a neon sign, an electric car neon sign, a square dance shoe neon sign, or a toy neon sign ... their dazzling light and shabby gloomy environment seem to be incompatible, so their red It is "disastrous red" and yellow is "dim yellow"; under the contrast of the dark night, they release a sense of fantasy and illusion of stealing in the end of the world.

Pointless

[imashley2005 · 1/10 · 29 July 2023]

I couldn't believe that I had just wasted some 90 minutes of my life watching this pointless movie.

I'm still baffled about the loose "plot" and what it was attempting to convey. None of the actors' or actresses' acting left any impression on me. And I'm so confused - why the convoluted way to receive the reward? Why the wife didn't report her husband and get the reward herself instead? Why the woman would then meet up with the wife after the former claimed the reward? What this was trying to imply?! I'm even more confused now than I was in the first five minutes. What was the point of all this?

A unique personal style full of innovation of the film!

[g-87877 · 8/10 · 11 May 2020]

A unique personal style full of innovation of the film! Each frame of the lens was finely crafted.Almost all of them are night plays, and it is true that the night is magical under various lights and Settings.The chase, fight and gunfight of the gangster drama also have the director's unique way of expression.

Forgetful

[westsideschl · 3/10 · 15 October 2020]

I wish I could list all the reasons why it was tediously boring, and there are many, such as a too common script of guy on the run meets girl. Mostly filmed at night so cinematographically it was visually sleepy dull. Dialogue casual pointless. Acting not needed as not much happens. I ended up ff through much of it.

must watch movie

[georgekalathil · 10/10 · 10 September 2019]

His is a must watch movie with your family because there is a hidden story in this movie that can really reayy enjoy with your family.each scenes of the movie is worth to be watched aswell as the background music is awesome and really thrilling.

chinese great noir film

[crimsen_cinema · 8/10 · 31 March 2022]

The whole story and all people evolve for the huge money rewards in return of catching the wrong doer. The police just took photo of the dead after shooting without mercy. In the end, two female leads just have to go on with their lives with the money the gained after what have happened and he was dead. Great story with amazing close up cinematography. Massive use of shadows and curtains effectively conveys the tensions, anxiety and mistery.

Gem? A gem of garbage is what this movie is.

[Juan_Atreides · 2/10 · 8 February 2020]

I watch a movie every two days. That is, I watch about 180 movies a year. I watch movies from almost every country in the world. I watch movies from Korea, from Spain, from Iran, from Russia, from Chile, from France, from the United States, from Romania, from Greece, from Philippines... I watch mute movies and superhero movies. I love from Tarkovsky's "Stalker" to "Guardians of the Galaxy". And I have to say that "The Wild Goose Lake" is one of the worst movies I have ever seen. It is extremily boring, disjoint and long. Do not think you guys that I don't like long movies: My favourite movie of 2019 is "La Flor", an argentinian movie that lasts more than...17 hours! But watching "The Wild Goose Lake" was for me like been there in front of the screen for years. Years and eons of doom in hell. Oh my god, have mercy with the foolish people like me who spend two hours of their lives watching this movie, packaged as a "visually stunning thriller", but empty and boring as hell...

Chinese Thriller set in the City of Wuhan by GOLDEN BEAR winner Yinan DIAO

[ZeddaZogenau · 8/10 · 26 October 2023]

Chinese contribution to NOIRvember

When Yinan DIAO (Golden Bear 2014 for FIREWORKS IN BROADBAND DAY / Feuerwerk am helllichten Tage) presented his new film LAKE OF THE WILD GEESE / See der wilden Gänse in the competition at Cannes 2019, the Chinese city of Wuhan, in which the film is set, was not yet world-famous.

It tells the story of a gangster (classic: Ge HU) who has to assert himself in a murderous gang war with the help of a prostitute (Lun-mei GWEI) in order to be able to give his wife (Qian (Regina) WAN) the police reward for his capture...

A wonderfully cool and very stylish neo-noir story from contemporary China is told here. Along the way, you learn about the difficult everyday life in a Chinese city and about the omnipresence of prostitution and crime. When a dance performance culminates in a wild shootout and chase to the sounds of "Rasputin" (Boney M) and "Dschinghis Khan" (German entry in the EUROVISION Song Contest 1979 in Jerusalem), one can only marvel at Yinan DIAO's genre skills.

The film grossed $31 million at the worldwide box office. Definitely worth seeing!