An epic melodrama spanning 17 years, #JiaZhangke's new film, #AshisPurestWhite, harkens back to the Chinese auteur's earlier films. I say this not just because it mostly takes place in Shangxi province (the director's home province where he made 3 of his early films), but also because he abandons the episodic/omnibus storytelling of Touch of Sin and Mountains May Depart, two of his last films. Instead, he concentrates on a long and arduous relationship between Qiao and Bin. Ash is a full-on (un)sentimental melodrama in epic scale. It's perhaps Jia's most down to earth, character study work. The long stretch in the middle gains more poignancy as the film goes along and afterwords. Some people reinvent themselves along with the changing times and some people don't. Some things in them though, remain the same. Jia expertly juxtaposes these conundrums, reflecting the soul of a changing nation. Ash is the Purest White is a deep, poignant masterpiece from a seasoned filmmaker. #chinesecinema

The Three Gorges Dam, the largest man-made project in human history, has become a symbol of China's ambition to be a global superpower where some sacrifices are regarded as inevitable. Sound of hammering and sentimental pop ballads always in the background, Still Life's new urban development against picturesque mountains is nothing but still. It concerns two relationships being tested - the human cost of changing times. However small and trivial, Jia applies communal activities to connect people, dividing the film in to separate chapters - Cigarettes, Liquor, Tea and Toffee. Still Life, another one of his carefully composed, thoughtful narrative/doc hybrid on changing times in China, is very good indeed. #stilllife #jiazhangke #zhaotao #chinesecinema

#MountainsMayDepart might be #jiazhangke’s most melodramatic film to date, but it's any less great than his other films in chronicling the rapidly changing Chinese society. His hometown Fenyang is once again the backdrop - vast flat area of upturned earth and old ruins. His choice of different aspect ratio for each decade isn’t gimmicky or overstated. His muse/wife Zhao Tao might be a little too old to play 26 year old woman in the first part of the film. Jia's first hit Platform came out in 2000 & Zhao was in her early 20s then. But as many Asian women, she doesn’t crack. It’s more important to see her to show that they have weathered the tumultuous time together, that they are sharing that collective experience w/the audience. It's like predisposed collective melancholy that will hit China like tidal waves in the near future. Poignant and sad, Mountains is another great film from the modern master. #chinesecinema

A nostalgic docudrama about changing times in Chengdu. Jia blends interviews with real former factory workers & known actors playing them (Joan Chen and Zhao Tao) with the backdrop of the last days of state owned aeronautics factory. As in other Jia films, the main attraction here is its cinematography. Yu Lik-Wai's measured, slow tracking, panning and crane shots are beautiful without being romantic. 24 City is a quiet observation of time passing done masterfully. #jiazhangke #24city #zhaotao

The World Park, a never ending expo/theme park in the suburbs of Beijing is the setting for #JiaZhangKe's masterful take on rapidly changing China. He patiently observes & explores every part of the changing society in episodic storytelling, reminding us that behind all the garishness and excess, there are human stories hidden in there, obscured and overwhelmed by the 1/3 actual size Effel Tower, Arc de Triomphe, pyramids and camels and space ship-like karaoke bars. #ZhaoTao #chinesecinema

The integral structure of the film rested upon two notable considerations: One is temporal - I structured the film temporally around the Chinese New Year….
The other consideration was that of geography…. #jiazhangke #touchof sin #chinesecinema #zhaotao
Jia Zhangke on Touch of Sin:
http://www.dustinchang.com/2013/10/a-touch-of-jia-jia-zhangke-interview.html?m=1