‘The Wild Goose Lake’: Stylish Crime Noir Could Still Use More Narrative Cohesion [Review]

An overstuffed, stylish crime story about an unpredictable underground world, impressive visual poetry might be on display again in Yinan Diao’s “The Wild Goose Lake,” his latest action-noir, but narrative cohesion is sorely lacking. Following the visually-dazzling 2014 Berlinale-winning, “Black Coal, Thin Ice,” Diao’s most recent, ‘Goose Lake,’ is similarly themed. But it’s ultimately a less successful film with one almost entirely drowned by its overly-complicated and convoluted narrative about a gangster on the lam from both the cops and a rival gang. Despite the usual, customary beautiful aesthetics and terrific camera work that Diao routinely delivers, this is a film in desperate need of grounded congruity.

Diao’s Chinese noir begins on a rainy night, in a remote outdoor location filled with bright neon lights (think, the look and feel of a Nicolas Winding Refn movie). The empty streets are a chance for a meeting between a beautiful woman and a mysterious man with a bloody cut on his face. He’s Zhou Zenong (Hu Ge), a mob boss on the run from the cops and a local gangster chapter; she’s Liu Aiai (Gwei Lun-me), a chain-smoking femme fatale/prostitute with a complicated backstory. Liu claims she’s been hired to direct Zhou to safety. Via flashbacks, we learn, that it all started with a local meetup of rival gangs in a warehouse, which culminated in a competition of who could steal the most motorbikes in a span of an hour. It is during that event, which a character calls “the Olympic Games of thievery,” where Zhou accidentally shoots a cop, thinking it was a rival gang member. This incident instantly transforms him into a wanted man, a fugitive on the run with a $40,000 bounty on his head. Regardless, they trek down to a town called “Wild Goose Lake,” where its maze-like surroundings benefit them as an ideal hiding place.

Liu is there to assist, or so she claims— as we see in her own character’s flashbacks, her morality and allegiances seem fluid. But she has also been tasked with gathering his estranged wife and using her as a way to negotiate the bounty money, so she may be on the level. Who’s side is Liu really on? We are never really sure until the film’s final “gotcha” moment, a well-orchestrated shot that gives audiences all the answers they need.

In between all of this plot, filled with stories within stories, is the action, which is so well-choreographed and crafted, you almost want to forgive the practically inaccessible narrative. Two particularly noteworthy set-pieces stand out above the rest. The first in a public space, where outdoor evening dance lessons are given right outside some local bars. Once the shooting begins, all hell breaks loose and the other, climactic duel, set in and around a maze-like apartment complex, begins, and features, by far, the year’s best and most creative kill — all one can say is that it involves an umbrella.

The unpredictable narrative soon turns erratic; ’Wild Goose Lake” eventually grows too complicated for its own good. Diao’s has too many ideas, and he stuffs his script with them in a clunky screenplay lacking any kind of focus. Backstab upon backstab occurs, which renders the shock of betrayal rather numbing after a while. Ditto Liu’s eventual romance with Zhou, which roots itself in the femme fatale tradition, but lacks any of the usual intrigues.

What’s left is a film filled with unrewarding drama, but jolted, from time to time, by its visually inventive action. Diao is gifted at positioning his camera in the right place once things go pear-shaped. His mix and use of close and wide shots during the action sequences are, quite frankly, unlike anything anyone is doing in movies right now. Despite this disappointing effort, Diao continues to impress with the clever use of his camera. Now, one just wishes he could find the substance to pull all this style together in a winning fashion. [C+]

“The Wild Goose Lake” is in theaters this coming Friday, March 6th.