Ash Is Purest White | Jia Zhangke | NYFF 2018
Chinese director Jia Zhangke returns with a new drama that spans across different times showing the effect that one decision can have, lingering throughout generations as China continues to change and evolve in that timespan.
When we meet Qiao (Zhao Tao), she is the girlfriend of a respected crime boss named Bin (Liao Fan) who operates with power in the old mining city of Datong that has been economically depressed with coal prices having dropped significantly.
When a rival gang tries to assassinate Bin, it’s Qiao that steps in and fires a gun to scare away the bloodthirsty attacks. The only issue is the gun is owned illegally and she is the one who takes the fall for her beloved Bin and spends the next five years locked up in prison. He doesn’t contact or visit here during that timespan and when she returns he doesn’t pick her up. Instead, he’s cooped up with another girlfriend and doesn’t have the balls to tell her himself.
Zhangke spaces it all out patiently, allowing the length of time to feel fully fleshed out so the viewer can come to appreciate the changes that have emerged between not only the characters but to China as a country, which acts as a character in itself.
Broken up into three chapters, it’s safe to say that first two-thirds are the stronger and more essential parts of this journey, with the final third feeling somewhat extraneous.
But with a strong assured direction by Zhangke and equally strong and compelling performances from his two leads the film finds a way to resonate even if it’s demanding runtime of 136 minutes isn’t always earned, but it’s hard to argue with the gorgeous way that cinematographer Eric Gautier captures and frames it all.
It’s a wondrous journey that tells you how much can change over time, with love expanding through the brightest and darkest recesses of time, for both better and worse.
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