Along the banks of the Suzhou River, which winds precariously through Shanghai, Marda (Jia Hongshen) falls in love with a dramatically beautiful young woman named Moudan (Zhou Xun). When he tries to kidnap her in order to demand ransom money from her rich father, she escapes him, jumping in to the river and disappearing forever. Marda serves a three-year jail sentence for his attempted crime. Upon his release, he meets a woman that looks exactly like Moudan, named MeiMei (also played by Zhou Xun).

An exciting, action-filled mystery suspense movie, director Lou Ye’s SUZHOU RIVER shares many thematic and stylistic elements with Alfred Hitchcock’s VERTIGO.

For thoughts on Suzhou River, please check out our discussion on The Video Attic:

[youtube https://youtu.be/29CHE2dwxcA?t=794]

Video Quality

Suzhou River debuts on Blu-Ray courtesy of Strand Releasing with a digital AVC encoded 1080i transfer in 1.78:1 that is derived from a brand new 4K restoration of the original 16mm A-B negative from the laboratory Kopierwerk Babelsberg that was supervised by director Lou Ye. This has long been a more under-the-radar film in the United State outside of dedicated cinephiles, and it is incredible to have this in high definition. The presentation thankfully maintains the gritty natural film aesthetic throughout with image stability and delineation being quite strong. This transfer maintains the natural film grain of the presentation that is often thick but with a refined look rather than a clumpy or frozen mess. This film oscillates a bit between different filming styles depending on the point of view.

Colors are well saturated with the natural hues coming through in a lovely way, especially in some of the neon signage. Skin tones are natural and consistent with subtle features such as makeup easily noticeable in closeup. Black levels hold up fairly well with no major instances of crush or banding that we observed. The picture can still run slightly soft in a handful of sequences, but this is likely due to the nature of how it was originally captured. Instances of print damage such as nicks and scratches have mostly been cleaned up with overall clarity and detail looking marvelous, yet you will spot faint signs of vertical lines in some spots. There are still minor blemishes that have made it through the restoration gauntlet, but this is by far the best the film has looked. This is a grand presentation for a film from the team at Strand Releasing.

Audio Quality

The Blu-Ray comes with a carefully restored and expanded DTS-HD 5.1 Master Audio track in the original Mandarin that serves this film really well. Dialogue and background noises are represented in pleasant harmony with all tertiary competing elements even with the variety of different environments. This disc maintains a stellar sense of fidelity that is appreciated. The music establishes an evocative atmosphere as it spreads through the room perfectly. Even with the strength of this element, nothing ever overpowers the dialogue or other important information.

This track shows no major age related wear and tear such as hissing or popping. All of the sound effects and music appear to be faithful to the original intent, even if the mono source has been opened up to a surround sound presentation supervised by the director and assistant director Ying Li. There are also optional English subtitles included for the feature film. Strand Releasing has delivered with this audio track.

Special Features

Trailer: A nearly two-minute trailer for the restored version of Suzhou River is provided here.

Bonus Previews: There are additional trailers provided for Chan Is Missing, Dim Sum: A Little Bit Of Heart, Saturday Fiction and Romance.

Final Thoughts

Suzhou River is an intricately crafted drama which evokes a really gritty, intimate familiarity that complements the core mystery in effective ways. Director Lou Ye packs so much into this tightly paced film in a way that never feels rushed or undercooked. The way in which he leans into the less glossy side of Shanghai gives this independent production a unique character that works really well. Even if you can point to specific influences, this film stands on its own as a rewarding viewing experience. Strand Releasing has helped rescue this one from obscurity with a new Blu-Ray with a solid A/V presentation but not too much in the way of special features. If you are in the market for a terrific slice of independent cinema, do not pass this by. Recommended

Suzhou River is currently available to purchase on Blu-Ray.

Note: Images presented in this review are not reflective of the image quality of the Blu-Ray.

Disclaimer: Strand Releasing has supplied a copy of this disc free of charge for review purposes. All opinions in this review are the honest reactions of the author.