The Bitter Ash

Studio: Canadian International Pictures

Jul 26, 2024 Web Exclusive By Austin Trunick

It’s pretty wild to think that the first-ever feature film produced in Vancouver wasn’t a flickering silent film, but a black-and-white, from-the-hip indie whose Venn diagram overlaps more closely with Godard or Cassavetes than with D.W. Griffith. Filmed and released in 1963, The Bitter Ash was shot for very little money by a cast and crew with even less experience—a collaborative effort by 25-year-old director Larry Kent, a group of theater students and a British expat who pulled double duty as both cinematographer and editor.

The Bitter Ash follows Des (Alan Scarfe), a young adult working a crushingly dull job setting newspaper presses. With the bombshell news that he may soon become a father—followed by a visit with a dying classmate—Des finds himself in the midst of an existential crisis. He manages to find some common ground with Laurie (Lynn Stewart), an overworked waitress supporting her playwright husband and their infant son. The two reconnect at a crowded party in Laurie’s apartment—packed with beatniks, booze and bongo players—and attempt to be the answer to one another’s misery, but to poor results.

The Bitter Ash has a very lively cadence, composed of quick shots and even quicker editing all set to a constant, jazzy score. Some of the performances are broad, some of the shots are wonky, and all of it feels very much as low-budget as it is. Yet, there’s a confidence on display that covers up for many skills the crew lacked at this time in their careers. The same can be said of so many noteworthy independent debuts, from Shadows to Night of the Living Dead to Pink Flamingos to Clerks.

The Bitter Ash has been restored from the film’s original 16mm negatives, with an introductory screen explaining how more than a thousand instances of dirt and damage were removed. The B&W image we’re presented with is very strong, but fittingly imperfect given the film’s origins. The movie is packaged with a long list of bonus materials, including new and archival interviews with Kent, another with Scarfe, a historical commentary, and a pair of booklet essays that detail the beginnings of Kent’s career and more. The stories about the making of The Bitter Ash—and its suppression by angry parents and censors, which lasted for decades—included with the restored Blu-ray release from Canadian International Pictures are nearly as entertaining as the film itself. The disc also includes two versions of Hastings Street, the short film Kent made immediately preceding Ash (which shared several crew members).

(www.canadian-international.com)

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