Asche ist reines Weiß (2018)

Asche ist reines Weiß: Directed by Jia, Zhangke. With Tao Zhao, Fan Liao, Yi’nan Diao, Jiali Ding. A story of violent love within a time frame spanning from 2001 to 2017.

“u0026quot;Ash Is Purest Whiteu0026quot; (2018 release from China; 148 min.) brings the story of Qiao and Bin. As the movie opens, we are informed it is u0026quot;April 4, 2001u0026quot;, and we see Qiao making her rounds at a magic show of some sort. Later on, she goes into a club, which it turns out she and Bin are running. Bin is the leader of the jianghu gang. They seem to make a good boyfriend/girlfriend team. Then one day, as they are confronted by another gang, Bin is almost beaten to death, and it is Qiao who manages to step in when she shoots a gun in the air several times. The opposing gang scurries away, but Qiao is arrested and jailed for possession of a gun and lying about who owns the gun… What will become of Qiao in jail? and of Binu0026#39;s recovery? To tell you more of the plot would spoil your viewing experience, youu0026#39;ll just have to see for yourself how it all plays out.u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003eCouple of comments: this is the last film from acclaimed Chinese writer-director Jia Zhanke, whose previous works includes the excellent u0026quot;A Touch of Sinu0026quot;. With this latest film, Jia revisits many of the themes that have dominated his earlier films, and in that sense u0026quot;Ash Is Purest Whiteu0026quot; is safe, almost predictable in a way. But thatu0026#39;s like saying that Ingmar Bergman is safe and predictable for revisiting similar issues time and again in his movies. Given the filmu0026#39;s running time of 2 1/2 hours and spanning over a decade and a half (from 2001 to 2017), just take it from me that a LOT is playing out (sorry, I donu0026#39;t want to spoil any further from the plot). The role of Qiao is played brilliantly by Zhao Tao (a/ka/ Mrs. Jia in real life), who of course has appeared in many of Jiau0026#39;s films. Much (but not all) of the movie is once again set in Jiau0026#39;s home province of Shanxi. And check out the scenery at the Three Gorges…u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003eu0026quot;Ash Is Purest Whiteu0026quot; premiered at last yearu0026#39;s Cannes film festival to immediate acclaim, and it is currently rated 98% certified fresh on Rotten Tomatoes for a reason. I had the good fortune of catching this while I was on a recent business trip to Washington, DC, where I saw it at the Landmark West End Cinema. The Friday evening screening where I saw this at was almost (but not quite) sold out. If you are in the mood for a top quality movie from China (yes, those words do go together nicely in this case), Iu0026#39;d readily suggest you check this out, be it in the theater (if you can), on VOD (more likely) or eventually on DVD/Blu-ray, and draw your own conclusion.”