KSanders writesTo the Criminal Belongs the Spoils: Reviews of “Ash is the Purest White” & “Birds of Passage”

This month CHIRP volunteer Kyle Sanders is attending the 2018 Chicago Interntional Film Festival and reporting on what he discovers there...

Crime never pays. Oh sure, it can give you a taste of power and riches, but there is always a constant struggle to maintain such control: you're always having to watch your back or sleep with one eye open to fend off anyone trying to knock you off the throne, be it the authorities, a rival crime lord, or even your own friends or family. It seems the higher you rise up, the further you descend into a hell of your own making. Is there a way out? Is there a way to start over? It can depend on the choices you make for yourself. Two films that provide us possible options screened at this year's Chicago International Film Festival provide us two different outcomes (due to festival restrictions, the following are "capsule reviews" of said films):

Ash is the Purest White: A devoted girlfriend lands herself in prison after covering for her Jianghu crime lord boyfriend. Five years later she is released, only to find that her lover has moved on and the gang world she was comfortably living in has very much changed. Determined to survive, she will use her tenacious wit to climb back to the top. Jia Zhangke directs this gripping crime drama that has surprising moments of humor and stunning cinematography showcasing China's metropolitan and rural landscapes.

Birds of Passage: This "Colombian answer to Mean Streets" gives us an absorbing drama drenched in tribal tradition. Wayuu tribesman Rapayet wins the hand of young Zaida in marriage and promises her superstitious mother Ursula to build a prospering life for the family. He joins his alijunas friend in selling marijuana to American visitors, providing him the success he promised, yet collecting trouble along the way. Almost Shakespearean in its presentation, this tragedy uses striking imagery of enigmatic dreams and exotic birds to symbolize the bloody path Rapayet will fatefully follow.  

While both films share a theme, they present us two different points of view. Ash is the Purest White begins at the height of the protagonist's involvement in crime (the exact sort of seedy business is never entirely made clear) followed by her descent, and her attempts at climbing out of a crevasse she fell into. Birds of Passage meanwhile shows us how quickly one can ascend into the drug world, only to fall out as abruptly as they came. There is an abundance of violence in Birds, while Ash has only brief glimpses, aside from one choreographed fight scene involving the use of motorcycle helmets and an illegal gun. It's definitely clear how the choices made in Birds will ultimately affect Rapayet, but with Ash, our protagonist's path is murkier; the only choice she seems to have made was in the name of love, setting into motion a large hill to climb with the uncertainty of where she will find herself on the other side. Ultimately, both suggest that success comes easy from choosing a life of crime, but the failures are a lot more difficult to overcome.