Review of Ash Is Purest White (2018) by Tony E — 12 Oct 2018
Unlike most of Zhang-ke's films, 'Ash is purest White' comprises a single story. Bin The boss of Jianghu, an old-fashioned criminal brotherhood, is viciously attacked by a group of young thugs (the new mob on the block).
Bin's girlfriend, Qiao, intervenes to save him for which she is sentenced to five years in prison. On her release she discovers that Bin has left her for another woman. Qiao returns to the mining town where she is reunited with those members of the Jianghu who have not moved on.
She is later joined by Bin who has become an invalid. The film charts both Qiao's internal journey and her actual journey through the demolition and rebuilding of modern day China. It is a world of desolate industrialisation made up of dying towns, displaced people and grandiose projects such as the Three Gorges Dam.
This is the familiar Zhang-ke territory of 'Still Life' and 'Mountains May Depart'. Although 'Ash is Purest White' does not have the depressive emotional power of these earlier works, it is a wonderfully reflective, insightful and beautifully photographed film.
This review of Ash Is Purest White (2018) was written by Tony E on 12 Oct 2018.
Ash Is Purest White has generally received very positive reviews.
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