Set during China's Three Kingdom's era (AD 220-280). The story of a great king and his people, who will be expelled from their homeland and will aspire to claim it. The king, violent and ... See full summary »
Twelve year old Li Wan (Zhang Xueying) has lost her mother long ago. When she grew up, her father remarried. Not long after, Li played with a half brother. This series of events lead to ... See full summary »
A young swordsman in 1930's China returns home to try and solve a five-year-old murder case. Described as the third installment of the gangster trilogy that includes "Let The Bullets Fly" and "Gone With The Bullets."
A town in Fengjie county is gradually being demolished and flooded to make way for the Three Gorges Dam. A man and woman visit the town to locate their estranged spouses, and become witness to the societal changes.
Asako lives in Osaka. She falls in love with Baku, a free-spirit. One day, Baku suddenly disappears. Two years later, Asako now lives in Tokyo and meets Ryohei. He looks just like Baku, but has a completely different personality.
The Hong Kong police are hunting a counterfeiting gang led by a mastermind code-named "Painter". In order to crack the true identity of him, the police recruits gang member Lee Man to unmask "Painter's" secret identity.
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.
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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.