A screen capture of Mountains May Depart. [Photo/Mtime]

Jia Zhangke's Mountains May Depart is neatly divided into three time periods. The first two, set in 1999 and 2014, find him in familiar territory, but it is the last one, set in 2025 Australia, that is jaw-dropping in both positive and negative ways.

The twist is audaciously conceived, but testifies to a fundamental lack of understanding of the Chinese diaspora, and the May-December relationship is shallow in its Freudian implication.

The year's most satisfying work belongs to Deep in the Heart, the directorial debut of Xin Yukun. It was titled The Coffin in the Mountain when it first ran on the festival circuit in 2014.

Made with a paltry budget of 1.7 million yuan ($269,800), the dark drama takes on crime and punishment with a verve and aplomb befitting a veteran.