Rating summary

Movie		4.0
Video		4.5
Audio		4.0
Extras		1.0
Overall		4.0

Ash Is Purest White Blu-ray Movie Review

Reviewed by Jeffrey Kauffman August 3, 2019

Some of the “student” firefighters profiled in the recently reviewed Wildland might quibble just exactly how “purest white” ash is, but, then again, there’s very little that is “purest white” in Ash is Purest White. This rather odd kinda sorta gangster film from celebrated Chinese auteur Jia Zhang-ke competed for the Palme d’Or at Cannes, where its leisurely pace, metaphorical aspects and overall Art House sensibilities may have been more generally appreciated than by “everday Joes” looking for another Nikkatsu Diamond Guys sort of entry (if I may be permitted to temporarily join Japanese and Chinese cinema for a moment). Zhang-ke has often documented the epochal changes that contemporary China has been undergoing for at least a generation, and the film’s arguably frequent feeling of languour in terms of its storytelling is rather bracingly contrasted with aspects of modern Chinese life that seem specifically designed with the ADHD set in mind. The underlying foundation of Ash is Purest White’s plot mechanics deals with a mid level gangster named Bin (Liao Fan), who has managed to carve out a bit of turn in Datong, a once bustling mining town which has been ravaged by time and the drying up of precious coal deposits. Bin’s girlfriend is a woman named Qiao (Zhao Tao), who pines for a life away from it all where Bin and she can pursue happiness in private. When a seeming attempted mob hit on Bin is halted by Qiao’s use of a found handgun, Qiao suddenly finds herself on the wrong side of the law, imprisoned for several years and sequestered from Bin.

There are some frankly weird narrative and stylistic choices Zhang-ke makes in the early going, including a couple of instances of a narrower aspect ratio that I initially thought might be tied to one of the film’s three major timelines, but which in retrospect seem pretty random, since other sequences taking place in that same perceived time are in the film’s more prevalent 1.85:1 aspect ratio. An introductory scene with a startled baby on a bus seems to be hinting at some unseen danger, but is never developed beyond that point. In any case, the film quickly segues to following Qiao as she enters a raucous club, where’s she’s immediately granted access to a back room where Bin and his gangster buddies are playing a game (mahjong is referenced repeatedly, but it didn’t look like mahjong to me). A brief skirmish between two lower level thugs breaks out, which Bin quickly brings to a close, suggesting his stature as some sort of leader.

Later, at what is perhaps another club, Bin meets with his boss, who is perhaps trying to go straight (or at least straighter) with a housing development he’s having a hard time marketing due to rumors that it’s haunted. Bin tells the guy he’ll look into it, and in another sign of how deeply trusted Bin is, the guy immediately says he feels relieved just to know that Bin is on the case. In yet another kind of bizarre sidebar, the guy turns out to be a fan of ballroom dancing and has brought two exemplars of that art, who launch into a routine which Zhang-ke spends some time showing. In a rather abrupt segue, the film then kind of lurches into the revelation that Bin’s boss has been murdered in what may or may not have been a gangland retribution or simply some stupid kids doing something stupid (like stabbing someone). That seems to put Bin in the driver’s seat, but Qiao wonders if they might not be happier somewhere else.

Two attacks — the first of which, again, may or may not have been random — seem to indicate that Bin is a target whether or not he wants to be, and when the second seems to be spiralling toward Bin’s death, Qiao, perhaps in a moment of panic, pulls out a handgun she’s come into possession of and fires a couple of times in the air, which disperses the attackers. In yet another abrupt segue, the next scene shows her being questioned by police, where her use of an unregistered handgun is quickly leading to a long prison sentence. This particular plot point struck me as a little odd, since at least one policeman has already been shown to either be in outright cahoots with the gang or at least tolerant of their activities, when he shows up to begin investigating the killing of Bin’s boss. And since it’s clear that Bin and Qiao were attacked by some vicious kids, why would Qiao simply firing into the air wreak such havoc in her life?

Ash is Purest White takes a number of detours, including references to unionizing activities, the refashioning of urban centers after previous industries fail, and, in a more personal aspect, Qiao’s almost obsessive loyalty to Bin even after she’s sent to prison for several years. In fact the middle section of the film documents Qiao’s “adventures” in prison, before following after she’s released as she attempts to reconnect with Bin. It turns out Bin has “moved on”, in more ways than one, but Qiao is not one to give up easily. The story seems to be an intimate example of that old adage that those who don’t learn from history are condemned to repeat it, as the last third or so of Ash is Purest White seems to repeatedly offer evidence that Qiao would probably be better off forgetting about Bin and moving on herself.

And in fact she at least makes some halting attempts to do just that, which is when one of the film’s oddest vignettes unfolds. She briefly hooks up with a guy who claims to be a paranormal researcher on the hunt for UFOs, when the truth is considerably more mundane. When she decides not to stay with this guy, she sneaks off a train she’s been traveling on with him, where she’s promptly greeted outside — by a UFO. It’s weird, to say the least, and suddenly injects a level of magical realism into the film that brings to mind a certain ambience that might be more expected of someone like Alejandro González Iñárritu. The film doesn't really provide any easy answers for either Qiao or in fact the viewer, but it weaves a strangely hypnotic spell while hinting at depths that speak to what might be perceived as yet another westernizing influence on China: that vaunted "American" precept of the pursuit of happiness.

Ash Is Purest White Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

Ash is Purest White is presented on Blu-ray courtesy of Cohen Media Group with an AVC encoded 1080p transfer (largely) in 1.85:1 (see screenshots 5, 8 and 15 for examples of the film's narrower aspect ratio). Zhang-ke and cinematographer utilize both of the "big" digital capture technologies, Arri and Red, along with traditional celluloid, giving this presentation an at times understandably pretty heterogeneous appearance. That said, whatever the technology being employed in any given sequence, and despite a few rather odd lighting choices, detail levels are remarkably consistent throughout this presentation. Everything from the kind of weirdly woven yellow top the baby in the opening wears to even the occasional stray hairs in Qiao's bangs in some of the earlier sequences really look precise and natural. There are a number of impressive outdoor shots with rather wide vistas where depth of field is notable. The wintry prison sequence is understandably tilted toward cooler blue tones, but there are some interesting other hues prevalent throughout the palette, including a kind of weird sickly yellow-green tint to some of the club material, choices that tend to only marginally affect fine detail levels, if at all. There was one rather noticeable occurrence of banding, during the "big SFX" sequence where Qiao spies something zooming through the air overhead.

Ash Is Purest White Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

Ash is Purest White features a DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 track that bursts into rather energetic activity in some of the crowd scenes, particularly a couple of the club sequences, two of which seem to suggest the Village People were really big in China. A glut of outdoor material also offers good opportunities for realistically placed ambient environmental sounds. Dialogue is presented cleanly and clearly throughout the presentation. Subtitles are forced.

Ash Is Purest White Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

• Director's Dialogue with Jia Zhangke at NYFF56 (1080p; 1:03:23) is often quite interesting, but is perhaps a bit on the halting side since all of the questions and answers need to be handled by a translator who's there.


• Ash is Purest White Theatrical Trailer (1080p; 1:56)

Ash Is Purest White Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

There's an aspect to some of Zhang-ke's other work that might almost be compared to the Neorealist school in Italy, but Ash is Purest White is deliberately disjunctive as well as at least a little more mysterious than "docudramas" tend to be. I'm still wondering what exactly Zhang-ke is positing about the character of Qiao, but the film was so arresting (no pun intended, given Qiao's predicament) that I'll be more than happy to watch it again to try to further figure things out. Technical merits are generally solid, and Ash is Purest White comes Recommended.