Ash is Purest White is a character study of Qiao, a woman who's life is dictated by her love of the gangster Bin. These central performances are are hard to find any flaws in. It is quite captivating and the cinematography is quite amazing, but it does have flaws.
The narrative, like many thrillers made in the early days of cinema, is original and unpredictable. There are splashes of humor that are woven perfectly in with the tragic story of Qiao's sacrificed life.
On the negative, there is some script issues. The death of an important gangster is dropped immediately, and the central gang battle isn't set up. Actually a slight tweak would bridge these issues and solve both of them, but by the end you won't mind it too much. The biggest issue is the length. While the cinematography is beautiful, it does tend to linger, if this film was closer to two hours it would help the rating significantly.
Alas the flaws are there, but the movies strengths outweigh the flaws and still make for an engaging and original viewing experience.
The narrative, like many thrillers made in the early days of cinema, is original and unpredictable. There are splashes of humor that are woven perfectly in with the tragic story of Qiao's sacrificed life.
On the negative, there is some script issues. The death of an important gangster is dropped immediately, and the central gang battle isn't set up. Actually a slight tweak would bridge these issues and solve both of them, but by the end you won't mind it too much. The biggest issue is the length. While the cinematography is beautiful, it does tend to linger, if this film was closer to two hours it would help the rating significantly.
Alas the flaws are there, but the movies strengths outweigh the flaws and still make for an engaging and original viewing experience.