User reviews

Excellent, deep drama with touches of crime/romance, mysterious and full of surprises. Slow but constant build-up, if you let it in it will pay off. A bit of cultural tourism. The leading female is outstanding. Definitely recommended to get into new chinese cinema.

I guess life accumulates and there's no way to purify it, not even by fire, hence the title, maybe. You're up and down and up and down again, but this entanglement of meaning goes deep, as it may also apply to China's severeness, where it's hard to start over and one seems to be stuck on one path by law, pride and a sense of righteousness, or maybe stubborness.

Found this on the film channels, and it looked fascinating. You know what? It very much lived up to that billing despite not following initial expectations.

We have here a tale surrounding a young lady in love with a gangster who are top dogs in their local area, but then the usual story stops. It's set with the backdrop of the rapidly captalising China, with the light & dark sides that come with that, and we see the young lady's travails through this as well as her obsession for her selfish man.

Personally, I was a bit surprised to come on here and see that this has been little watched & reviewed. It's a wonderfully made film, and the story is an existential look at life, possibly absurdist, with an apathetic world waiting for no one and evolving crushing all those whose lives are on hold.

It's slow in tone, but it's very beautifully filmed and acted. It deserves more attention. Even though it will clearly tick more with those of a Chinese background, there are some very strong parallels for many of us in the Western World to learn from too.

It's cerebral, arty and unforgiving. That's actually a compliment, and I think I'm going to dig out more from this director. Clearly, very much recommended from me.

Qiao (Zhao Tao) lives in a mining town in the Chinese province of Shanxi. Her boyfriend Bin (Liao Fan) is a mob boss. As years go by, crime life brings consequences to their lives - individually and as a couple.

Though the film is long at two and a quarter hours, it is rarely dull. The two lead performers, especially Zhao, are engaging as are the occasional rural landscapes especially the ones captured by train travel.

The middle sequence is the most fascinating. When Qiao is on a mission in a strange place, she might act in terrible ways but it is still tempting to root for her; she's not much different from the corruption that surrounds her.

Overall, "Ash Is Purest White" is a fascinating journey albeit a cynical one that begins in 2001 and finishes seventeen years later. Whether it's taking place in a corrupt small town, a prison, or a chaotic travel experience, it is always intriguing in a mostly quiet way. - dbamateurcritic

ASH IS PUREST WHITE - Chinese Director Zhangke Jia's (A TOUCH OF ZEN) latest is a sprawling drama about a two-bit local hood Bin (Fan Liao) and his moll Qiao (Tao Zhao; the Director's wife & muse). The first part of the story about their rise and fall takes place in the early 2000s and is the most purely entertaining with verve and visual impact, even if it covers a mostly familiar trajectory. We pick up the story several years later and the couple is estranged. Clearly the years (and a forced separation) has changed the individuals (especially Bin). The final section takes place in the present (more or less). ASH is a longish movie (136 minutes), not just in terms of time, but, also how the screenplay unfolds over the 17 year period. The acting and details are spot on (Zhao is particularly exceptional), but, the story drags after the sparkling opening section. Part of this is by design, without question, however, ASH is an example of a movie with so many apparent endings that one loses interest, rather than gains it. And, when we come to the conclusion, it is neither fully satisfying, nor, more importantly, seems worthy of the additional time spent to arrive at it. Still, ASH is a decent drama with some considerable merits (a long hotel sequence is deeply moving). The performances, Jia's direction and Eric Gautier's (MOTORCYCLE DIARIES) cinematography (combining 35mm with digital) are its strongest suits.

This is an intense movie. It's is less about the story, which is long, both in terms of movie length but also the time period of 2001 to 2018, than it is about the lead character and her protagonist, her love. Both Tao and Fan are exceptional. Understated yet convey such power. The hotel scene is superb.

This is a film of character. Of stoicism. Of progress but indomitable tradition. A pseudo love story but rather one of belief and strength. An excellent and absorbing character study.

An enjoyable journey into a land and character unfamiliar.

"Ash Is Purest White" (2018 release from China; 148 min.) brings the story of Qiao and Bin. As the movie opens, we are informed it is "April 4, 2001", 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 Bin's recovery? To tell you more of the plot would spoil your viewing experience, you'll just have to see for yourself how it all plays out.

Couple of comments: this is the last film from acclaimed Chinese writer-director Jia Zhanke, whose previous works includes the excellent "A Touch of Sin". With this latest film, Jia revisits many of the themes that have dominated his earlier films, and in that sense "Ash Is Purest White" is safe, almost predictable in a way. But that's like saying that Ingmar Bergman is safe and predictable for revisiting similar issues time and again in his movies. Given the film'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 don'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 Jia's films. Much (but not all) of the movie is once again set in Jia's home province of Shanxi. And check out the scenery at the Three Gorges...

"Ash Is Purest White" premiered at last year'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), I'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.

Qiao is cool headed, smart, responsible and resourceful; good qualities to have when your boyfriend is a gangster. When Bin, her man, gets into trouble, Qiao gets him out of it. She fades into the background when Bin needs to take the spotlight. Qiao even takes a fall for Bin when he needs her in a pinch. And that is when he forgets her. Qiao emerges from five years in prison to cold indifference. To Bin, it is as if she did not exist. "People should keep their emotions in check" Bin's new woman tells Qiao. And even China seems to have forsaken her. This is a land where cities are swallowed whole by reservoirs, and the dark water is rising around Qiao. But this ingenious woman is going to get her groove back and do what is right, Bin or no Bin.

Such depth and beauty to each element of this enthralling film. The cinematography is luminous, characters are fascinating, the story is not predictable, and bits of modern China are revealed for the complex wonders that they are. Depth is everywhere. Surprises are constant. Analogies are all around; tigers lurk in cages, a volcano looms in the distance, and a street performer picks out Qiao from a crowd and sings to her "who knew I'd ever see you again." He speaks to her heart but does not know it. The actor who plays Bin has one expression in his bag of tricks, so he could have been better, but otherwise the acting is quite good. North American premiere seen at the 2018 Toronto International Film Festival.

I'd like to think of myself as a fairly sophisticated movie goer. I studied film in school, I've seen a wide range of movies from all countries, genres, and time periods. I'm open, and even prefer, movies that are stylistically daring, experimental, and that try things that haven't been done before. But I've now watched two Chinese movies that both came out in the past year, and I'm starting to think that I'm just not smart enough to understand Chinese movies.

I admittedly had never heard of the director of "Ash Is Purest White," which in and of itself made me feel dumb, since he's apparently considered to be one of the hottest international directors currently on the scene. And apparently "Ash Is Purest White" is very much integrated into the movies he's made previously, none of which I've seen, so that didn't help. The film is also very much about the cultural changes that have happened in China in recent years, which I also don't know much about, so again, dumb ass. And this movie doesn't explain any of those changes; it assumes you already know about them.

So I was able to watch "Ash Is Purest White" just for the plot and mood, and it's not like I got nothing out of it, it's just that I spent the whole movie feeling like much was going over my head because of how little homework I'd done beforehand. It's not the movie's fault, but it still impacted my enjoyment of it.

What it does have is a mesmerizing performance by Zhao Tao, who is married to the film's director in real life (thank you Internet). She has been understandably lauded by pretty much every person who's seen this movie, so I can do little but add my own praise.

This was on Barack Obama's list of best movies of 2019, which also intrigued me. Though I will say that it was already on my watch list before Obama released his, so there, Barack Obama (and can you please come back and be our president again?)

Grade: B

This movie teaches a valuable life lesson, the ending is harsh but so is life. Having went through a similar situation, this piece of art affected me deeply.

"A story of violent love within a time frame spanning from 2001 to 2017" according to its tagline. Well technically speaking it was 2018 in the movie but who's really keeping score. Violent love? Not that I necessarily wanted to see any graphic depictions, but when did anything remotely related to love occur in this 136 minute snoozefest. More accurately speaking,Ash Is Purest White is a long, drawn out tale of (greatly) unrewarded loyalty on the part of an industrious gangster's girlfriend; on her rise, fall and moderate rise again over the course of 17 years or so, noting the changes across Chinese society in the background.

Yes, I do admit there was something compellingly attractive about Tao Zhao's performance as Qiao, the much taken for granted moll. But anyone hoping for some sort of sweeping, oriental, love story set against a Godfather-like background of underworld intrigue will be sorely disappointed. Many of the elements which might add stimulus to this snail trail of a story happen off screen. Instead viewers have to sit through interminably long periods of various characters casting shady looks at one another, whilst undertaking bus, train or boat trips or alternatively karaoke or exhibitions of dance performed by minor characters completely unrelated to the main storyline. The one solitary action set piece in the movie, admittedly crucial to the narrative, is underwhelmingly choreographed, whilst being laughingly over-hyped by many a critic for its exhilarating originality. LOL! Surely they jest?

Ash is Purest White is like a delicate soup. Some may appreciate its light body and discerning palate. Me, I like the stock to have been derived by a source with a little more meat on its bones. This is one seriously overrated movie.

We follow the evolution and the misguidance of a mafia couple for a decade. With highs (classically: money, feeling of power, ...) and lows (to be discovered!). I did not know Tao Zhao: she plays perfectly

Positively, the expressive power of the lens language in Zhangke Jia's works has been steadily rising. This more refined detail and the high-level performance that Zhao Tao has been maintaining recently constitute the biggest attraction of this film. However, the combination of the era restoration and the theme of the drama in the past works have not been realized. Therefore, the narrative ambition to break the dimension wall seems to be more like a gimmick, and eventually leads to the disconnection of the middle part of the film.

With the vivid development of the chapter-style plot (self-indulgence), the role of the coincidence of the character is enough to ignore the ridicule and laughter of my own physiological reasons

The continuation of the director's style. Several actors are hard-working but still stiff, especially the male and female main expressions and eyes are too wooden. The changes of the times have also been fully demonstrated, but at the end there is some disconnection. It may also be unexpected that people in mixed society can rely on what after middle age. However, it still inherits the defects of literary and artistic films, such as too many plot branches, slow and tedious lens, especially in the middle section. After being released from prison, several fragments are fragmented.

I felt privileged to watch this on its premier at the Cannes Film Festival 2018, with Zang-ke Jia and the cast. The film revolves around Qiao (Played by Tao Zhao) who is the girlfriend of Bin (Fan Liao) a mobster in a small town, who likes to believe he is a big fish in this small pond.

The film shows how the couple drift away along with their youth and optimism, captured in a three act structure, the undying love of Qiao for Bin and how it remains just as strong through the passing of time. Both Qiao and Bin are very well written characters and the cinematography is flawless, on a lighter note Carl and Biddu's 'Kung Fu Fighting' plays a vital role in this movie.

You should definitely watch this movie if you are a fan of Zhao and Liao, also watch this if you liked 'Mountains May Depart'.

Love Liao Fan's performance. He depicts the loneliness and desolations of a gangster very well.

Ash is Purest White is a character study of Qiao, a woman who's life is dictated by her love of the gangster Bin. These central performances are are hard to find any flaws in. It is quite captivating and the cinematography is quite amazing, but it does have flaws.

The narrative, like many thrillers made in the early days of cinema, is original and unpredictable. There are splashes of humor that are woven perfectly in with the tragic story of Qiao's sacrificed life.

On the negative, there is some script issues. The death of an important gangster is dropped immediately, and the central gang battle isn't set up. Actually a slight tweak would bridge these issues and solve both of them, but by the end you won't mind it too much. The biggest issue is the length. While the cinematography is beautiful, it does tend to linger, if this film was closer to two hours it would help the rating significantly.

Alas the flaws are there, but the movies strengths outweigh the flaws and still make for an engaging and original viewing experience.

Well acted. Lingers on the oddities of modern Chinese life in an interesting way. Great film.

I really enjoyed the Directors "Still Life" (2006), but all his other movies I saw were a disappointment. I always learn a lot about Chinese society and how it evolved (for example, how western elements, from disco to ballroom dancing are blended in). But there needs to be a movie in there as well somewhere, and the (slow) story here did not transcend its obvious starting (and ending) points, and didn't even built up the characters well enough to make me care. There were some great scenes, the best of which was the strategy the lead character uses to get money at a family restaurant. It says a LOT about society in that very simple scene, but more of those moments of true brilliance were needed.

Ash is Purest White is a tumultuous story of two people who were lovers in a forgone life. After spending 5 years in prison for a man she loves dearly, she is finally released. Qiao (Tao Zhao) is a woman searching in the past for a life that no longer exists. Bin (Fan Liao), a gangster thrust into the role of mob boss, also faced the consequences of having to find a new life once he left prison. Disillusioned by his past gangster life he moved away from Shang Xi. Their return into each other's lives is difficult to navigate and highlights the societal and economic changes in China that has occurred from 2001 to 2006/2007.

Ash is Purest White is a reflective and poignant movie that beams with beautiful,subtle commentary on a changing world.