Traces of Justice review – ‘Chinese Sherlock Holmes’ at centre of arresting forensic cop thriller
It’s essentially a portmanteau biopic: its hero is Cui Xun, a fictional stand-in for the venerable Cui Daozhi, a still-extant real-life figure who so revolutionised forensic science he became known as “China’s Sherlock Holmes”.
Key points
- (Their scars are a terrific visual gag: scientists literally showing their working.) By the 90s, when Cui is heading a team working out of a vast, well-staffed warehouse, we seem mere moments away from David Caruso’s sunglasses and memorable Who guitar riffs.
- The forbidding subtext is presumably that, after 50 years of such breakthroughs, there’s no more getting away with it; as one suspect insists: “everyone pays for what they’ve done.” Continue reading...
- Within the handsome period framework, Chen follows the science: one era’s crazy innovation becomes commonplace in the next.
Based on real scientist Cui Daozhi, this sharp feature has thumping set pieces and knotty puzzles set across 30 years of gripping cases The latest from Chen Sicheng, prime mover behind the hit Detective Chinatown franchise, offers a disarming mix of propaganda, copaganda and gripping narrative.
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