Abstract
ABSTRACT In A Touch of Sin (2013) and Ash Is Purest White (2018), Jia Zhangke experiments with a genre cinema that caters to a bigger audience than the director’s previous films have enjoyed. Both films integrate an investigation of pressing social issues with the style of jianghu chuanqi (tales of the extraordinary), foregrounding the spirit of wuxia (martial arts chivalry). Exceptionally, women are the dominant characters of the narratives. This essay analyzes Jia’s feminist appropriation of the wuxia genre and discusses the director’s use of images of legendary nüxia (female knights-errant) to update and revitalize the genre. The rebellious spirit and moral strength of the heroines of the films demonstrate the director’s imaginative responses to social problems in recent years.
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