Suzhou River mixes love story and crime genres in a modern film noir. Set in the urban decay of post-industrial Shanghai the film is peopled with gangsters, street hustlers and nightclub denizens. In a plot that twists and turns the narrator keeps us guessing whether the central story is about his love for Meimei (Xun Zhou) or the relationship between Mardar (Hongshen Jia) and Moudan (Xun Zhou). The filthy river that flows through the city also plays a central role. Among other things it provides a metaphor for the circularity of the story which branches off from the main narrative flow and finally floods it, so that the boundaries between what is real and not are blurred. The resulting dreamlike feel of Suzhou River allows us to use our imagination to interpret the story, an unusual and satisfying opportunity in films these days.

Director/screenwriter Ye Lou is the bad boy of modern Chinese cinema, banned from filmmaking in China for this and other films and personally receiving official censure. In Suzhou River, Ye is clearly influenced by director Wong Kar-Wai’s use of expressionistic colour and probably more obviously to audiences in this country, by Hitchcock’s Vertigo. The allusions to Vertigo are seen in the themes of loss and obsessive searching, in the sickly colour and the romantic score, even the blond wig. But the film stands on its own merits rather than just as a nod to master directors. The highly stylised almost documentary approach to a tale of fated love, the fractured story-telling, the elegant camerawork contrasting with the handheld camera footage of busy Shanghai streets along with the choppy editing, all combine to impact upon the audience in a memorable way.

Lou has transformed Shanghai into a personal phantom zone. Named for an urban stream of consciousness, Suzhou River is a ghost story that’s shot as though it were a documentary and a documentary that feels like a dream. J Hoberman, The Village Voice

Suzhou River has it all. It is in the blurring of fact and fiction between reality and romance where imagination leads to creativity – an alchemy that transforms the mundane into magic. Suzhou River is simply a brilliant film it mixes arthouse sensibilities and postmodern themes into a fascinating and delightful romantic thriller. Noel Megahey, DVDTimes

A strong but gentle film about identity, neediness, and desire, as well as our ability to re-invent the world to suit ourselves. Michael Thomson, BBCmovies