Ash Is Purest White
江湖儿女
China • 2018
Director
Synopsis
Visionary director Jia Zhang-Ke’s mesmerizing, decade-plus spanning journey through China’s criminal underworld features a tour-de-force performance from his frequent star Zhao Tao as Zhao Qiao, the swaggering girlfriend of low-level gangster Guo Bin (Liao Fan). Upon her release from a five-year prison sentence for protecting him in a fight, she finds herself navigating life in a rapidly changing, turn-of-the-millennium China—visualized by Jia as a landscape of surreal, almost science-fiction strangeness—as she embarks on an odyssey to reconnect with Bin. But what will she find? And who can she trust?
Synopsis
Visionary director Jia Zhang-Ke’s mesmerizing, decade-plus spanning journey through China’s criminal underworld features a tour-de-force performance from his frequent star Zhao Tao as Zhao Qiao, the swaggering girlfriend of low-level gangster Guo Bin (Liao Fan). Upon her release from a five-year prison sentence for protecting him in a fight, she finds herself navigating life in a rapidly changing, turn-of-the-millennium China—visualized by Jia as a landscape of surreal, almost science-fiction strangeness—as she embarks on an odyssey to reconnect with Bin. But what will she find? And who can she trust?
Credits
Crew
DirectorJia Zhangke
WriterJia Zhangke
CinematographerÉric Gautier
ComposerLim Giong
EditorMatthieu Laclau, Lin Xudong
ProducerShôzô Ichiyama