Following its competition premiere at the Cannes Film Festival earlier this month, Jia Zhangke’s female-centered crime/romance drama Ash is Purest White has its first Chinese trailer. Also known by its original title Jiang hu er nv, the film stars Zhao Tao as Qiao, a young dancer who falls in love with mobster and criminal Bin, played by Fan Liao. In order to protect Bin from oncoming assailants, Qiao lets off a barrage of gunfire and subsequently gets jailed for doing so. The film follows Qiao in her search for Bin after her release from prison, five years later.
Jia Zhangke and Zhao Tao are frequent collaborators, as the director-actress (and husband-wife) dyad has worked together dating back to 2000 with Platform. More recently they’ve teamed up for The Touch of Sin and Mountains May Depart. Praising their collaboration in his Cannes review for Ash is Purest White, Rory O’Connor explained: “The director has written no shortage of wonderful roles for Zhao, his long-term partner, over the years, and, in turn, she has become one of our most cherished artists, a performer with the rare ability to execute deadpan comedic turns (you just know she would have excelled in the silent era) and a frankly breathtaking presence.”
While there’s no domestic release date yet from Cohen Media Group, Ash is Purest White will premiere in China on September 21st (where it will get a wide release) and in France on December 26th. For now, the rest of us will just have to check out the trailer, as seen below via Cinemaldito, as well as a pair of clips.
