The crime thriller that won the 2014 Berlin International Film Festival Golden Bear and Silver Bear for Best Actor(for Liao Fan), Black Coal, Thin Ice begins in the winter of 1999 in a coalmining village located on the depressing Dongbei River. The town is shaken up by the grotesque mutilation and murder of the husband of beautiful and strangely mystical laundry employee, Wu Zhizhen. The detective on the case, Zhang Zili(Liao), is shot while investigating and retires. Five years later, former colleague Captain Wong finds Zhang, now working as a factory security guard and drowning himself in liquor, and tells him that another mutilation murder resembling the one five years earlier has occurred. Zhang senses that the case is connected to the enigmatic Wu and pays her visit. During his quest for redemption and closure, he finally discovers the true, shocking identity of the serial killer. With a creative script and assured directing, the film is a strong social critique of the materialistic trends and social state of China. (KANG Naeyoung)