The depth analysis of The Mistake by the River is carried out from three aspects: story structure, theme significance and artistic style, as shown in the following.

1. Story structure

The film adopts three story structures, namely, the reality, dreams and memories of Ma Zhe. These three stories are intertwined, forming a complex and metaphorical narrative. At the end of the film, Ma Zhe was killed by a madman in his dream, and then he woke up to find himself in the hospital. The director told him that the madman had been caught and the case was closed. This ending is not the revelation of the truth, but the self-deception of Ma Zhe. He can't face his sins, so he chose to escape.

2. Thematic significance

The theme of the film is about sin, trial and redemption. Ma Zhe is a man full of guilt. He killed his wife fifteen years ago, and then used his authority to cover up the truth, so he lost his children. His guilt has been bothering him, causing him hallucinations and nightmares. In his dreams, he constantly judges himself and tries to seek redemption.

However, his redemption was not in a just way, but in a wrong way. He projected his sins on other suspects, and he tried to reduce his guilt by punishing them. However, this way only made him deeper into the mire of sin, and he could not get rid of his regret and pain in the end.

3. Artistic style

The artistic style of the film is typical of New film noir, which uses a lot of dark, gloomy and depressing colors and pictures to create a pessimistic, desperate and inescapable atmosphere. The music of the film is also a deep, heavy and tense style, which enhances the impact and appeal of the film with the plot of the film. The lens of the film uses a variety of techniques, such as jumping editing, flashback, flashback, slow mirror, etc., which highlights the confusion, confusion and fuzzy effect of the film and reflects the mental state and psychological changes of Ma Zhe.

The Creation Background of The Mistake by the Riverside

The Mistake by the Riverside was adapted from Yu Hua's novel of the same name. After reading the novel several times, director Wei Shujun found that the story had parody genes, so he decided not to focus on whether the murderer was crazy or not, but on the era when the cases were connected together and the people in the era.

The novel was written in 198s, and Wei Shujun transplanted it to 199s. To this end, he and his team did a lot of homework, watched documentaries of that era on the Internet, collected all kinds of pictures, collected some old furniture and clothes for art and landscape setting, and set up scenes belonging to that era. In the creation, Wei Shujun shot the whole film with 16 mm film, which gave the film a retro tone, showing the sense of small town space in that era, and the occasional out-of-focus lens even provided a style expression for the uncertain theme.

The film also continues the original novel's parody of detective stories, emphasizing that the focus of the film is not the truth and the answer, while retaining the ambiguity of the novel, leaving enough room for imagination and interpretation for the audience to feel and think more.