'Ash Is Purest White' Trailer: The Cannes Favorite Is Coming To The U.S.

World-renowned director Jia Zhangke has become a film festival constant, with his films like Still Life and and A Touch of Sin regularly earning accolades at the Venice and Cannes film festivals. And his latest film, Ash is Purest White, is no exception, earning acclaim and becoming a fast favorite at last year's Cannes Festival. Now, the decades-spanning romance/crime drama is coming to the U.S. this year, as revealed by the first Ash is Purest White trailer.

Zhangke's latest film may be his most ambitious yet, telling a roiling love story that spans 17 years. Through the tragic romance of a young dancer named Qiao (frequent Zhangke collaborator Zhao Tao) and her mobster boyfriend Bin (Liao Fan), Zhangke examines the radical cultural shift in China between 2001 and 2018, when technology and globalization drastically transformed the country.

"I really want to talk about are the rules of this society in the past twenty years: values that are based on affection and loyalty," Zhangke told Entertainment Weekly. "It changes and vanishes every year." He added:

"The story starts in 2001, the year that China joined the World Trade Organization. The year that China won the right to host the Olympic Games was 2008, and this was the year that the development of economy in China started rapidly booming. It was a very crucial year for China: the internet became a big part of people's lives and all of society started to change."

The film debuted at Cannes last year, but is just getting a U.S. release this year. Ash is Purest White opens in select theaters in New York and Los Angeles on March 15, 2019.

Here is the official synopsis for Ash is Purest White:

Qiao (Zhao Tao) is in love with her boyfriend Bin (Liao Fan), a small-time gangster. During a fight between rival gangs, she fires a gun to protect him. Qiao gets five years in prison for this act of loyalty. Upon her release, she goes looking for Bin to pick up where they left off.