Ashes of Time, Rivers of Return: Jia Zhang-Ke's 'Ash Is Purest White'

This formidable film sets an underworld couple's long-delayed reunion against irrevocable changes in the world during their separation. Despite its expansive scale and sprawling references to crime – in cinema and in society – Ash Is Purest White nevertheless distils the ways in which time can transform individual notions such as love and loyalty, writes Nicholas Godfrey.

Additional keywords:
Asian cinema, China, Zhangke, Xstream Pictures, Sixth Generation, Zhao Tao, melodrama, Liao Fan, Shanxi, rural, prison, Three Gorges Dam.