Page 6 March 21, 2019 EL SEGUNDO HERALD
Entertainment
Ash Is Purest White Review:
No Good Deed Goes Unpunished
Morgan Rojas for www.cinemacy.com
A poetic romance that transcends time, Ash
Is Purest White tells a love story that doesn’t
play by the rules. Written and directed by
Jia Zhang-Ke, the film is a tribute to the
lengths one will go in order to reclaim a past
relationship despite the intangible longing of
a love that has been lost.
Qiao (Tao Zhao) is in love with the local
“jianghu” (mafia) boss Bin (Fan Liao), even
though he is hesitant to put a label on their
relationship. One night, a mysterious murder
in the group’s inner circle puts everyone on
edge, as the town’s rival gang appears to be
sending threats. That threat becomes personal
when a group of boys catch Bin off-guard and
begin beating him in the middle of a busy
street. Qiao, whose initial reaction of shock
quickly turns into controlled rage, pulls out
a gun -- the gun that Bin gave her days prior
-- and shoots it up into the air as a warning.
The rival group scatters, but unfortunately
for our heroine, Qiao, she gets arrested for
owning and discharging an illegal firearm.
Fast-forward five years, Qiao is finally released
from prison and begins her search for
Bin in the hopes to pick things up where they
left off. The fact that Bin never came to visit
her in prison and now is not answering his
phone makes her nervous. When Qiao finally
tracks Bin down, his selfishness dumbfounds
her. Not only does he have a new girlfriend,
despite Qiao’s sacrifice to save his life, but
his feelings for her have also clearly changed.
He doesn’t love her anymore, and for Qiao,
that reality is the equivalent of a slap in the
face. She now realizes that her whole adult
life, she had been a prisoner in both the literal
sense and also figuratively as a pawn in a
non-committed relationship that had no future.
Almost Lynchian at times, Ash Is Purest
White incorporates surrealist moments that
serve to shake up the film’s otherwise natural
sensibilities. The dance club scene early on,
in which Qiao and Bin dance with a group
of strangers to the Village People’s YMCA,
gives off strong Pulp Fiction vibes. Ballroom
dancers at a funeral and a UFO sighting are
other nuanced touches that director Zhang-
Ke also incorporates. Visually, Ash Is Purest
White is drenched in the naturalistic beauty
of the northwestern Chinese region where
it looks as if every frame is a painting. The
greenery of the hills juxtaposed with the neon
vibrancy of city aesthetic breathes life into
the tepid relationship we see on screen. The
film also does a wonderful job of indicating
that time is passing without relying on title
cards or other obvious methods. We see
our characters age through their wardrobe,
hairstyles and the continuous upgrades in
the technology of the times.
Ash Is Purest White is a film about life,
love and freedom where coming into one’s
own can be an ambiguous and anxiety-ridden
journey. Qiao learns this the long and hard
way as she discovers that she must live
her life for no one other than herself. It’s a
lesson about self-discovery that’s not only
important, but clearly timeless.
Ash Is Purest White is not rated. 136 minutes.
Now Playing at ArcLight Hollywood
and Laemmle Monica Film Center. •
Check It Out
By Roz Templin, Library Assistant,
El Segundo Public Library
How many of you remember teen idols?
Is that even a thing anymore? Frank Sinatra
made his Bobbysoxers swoon, Elvis made
teenage girls’ hearts beat faster and the
British Invasion brought the hysteria of fans
screaming for the Beatles, the Rolling Stones
and other UK bands of the era.
Meow! My Groovy Life with Tiger Beat’s Teen Idols by Ann Moses
with Ann Wicker
Ann Moses writes about her days working
at Tiger Beat, the biggest teen fan magazine
of the 1960s and 1970s. Her memories
include going on tour with Paul Revere and
the Raiders, watching the Monkees film their
TV show, eating lunch with Bobby Sherman
and cooking dinner for the Osmonds in her
home. When she visited England, she was
picked up at the airport by Maurice Gibb
of the BeeGees in a borrowed Rolls Royce
belonging to John Lennon.
While reading Meow (Ann had a column
in Tiger Beat by that name), I was swept
away by my own memories of fandom: I
remember being glued to the TV screen
by The Monkees, American Bandstand and
Where the Action Is. I bought every issue of
Tiger Beat and their large family of other
printed products. I had posters of Donny
Osmond, David Cassidy and the Hudson
Brothers on the walls of my room and I
Film Review
Meow! My Groovy Life with Tiger Beat’s
Teen Idols by Ann Moses with Ann Wicker
collected every kind of memorabilia you can
think of from the popular culture of those
times.Ann’s book is like a conversation
instead of a tell-all as she reminisces about
her friendships with the stars, but always
acknowledges that the fans were the most
important part of her job. She says that she
tried to put herself in every teenage girl’s
fantasy when she interviewed her dreamy
subjects and she was careful to be respectful
of whom she was talking with, too. There
were no scandalous tales or mean gossip
-- just innocent photos of actors and singers
with their families and pets.
Even though I was one of those girls who
wished I was in Ann’s place, I discovered in
her book things I never knew before. Ann tells
how she got her start by interning at Tiger Beat
while she was studying journalism at a junior
college in Fullerton. She wrote for a weekly
music newspaper called Rhythm ‘n’ News
and covered stars like James Brown, Wilson
Pickett and Sam Cooke. She met Derek Taylor,
the former press officer for the Beatles, when
he headed his own public relations firm
representing the Beach Boys, The Byrds and
other acts. Derek wrote a column in Tiger
Beat, so Ann boldly asked him to arrange
an introduction to the magazine’s publisher.
The rest is history.
Meow is full of fun facts and recollections
that are funny and also full of heartache. Ann
Moses was once the envy of just about every
teenage girl once upon a time. Join her in
the retelling of her own story.
To check out Meow, or any other title,
please visit the EL Segundo Public Library.
The reference staff is happy to assist you. •
Courtesy of Cohen Media Group
Morgan Rojas
Roz Templin
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