Description
From Director Wong Kar Wai comes the definitive version of Ashes of Time, an epic martial arts masterpiece of larger-than-life characters, breathtaking landscapes and exquisite fight scenes. The story centers on Ouyang Feng (Leslie Cheung), a heartbroken and cynical man who spends his days alone in the desert, connecting expert swordsmen with those seeking revenge and willing to pay for it. As Ouyang narrates his tale, interweaving the stories of his unusual clients, old friends and future foes, he begins to realize the mistakes of his own past, and how his fear of rejection may have led him to a life of exile.Amazon.com
A complicated, sparse, and beautiful film, Ashes of Time Redux is the slightly tweaked version of Wong Kar Wai’s 1994 film. Like some of his other work, the movie borrows a few characters from novelist Louis Cha, but the film is definitely classic Wong. Ou-yan (Leslie Cheung) is heartbroken, after losing the love of his life to his brother. His friend Huang (Tony Leung Ka Fai) also is broken hearted. Ou-yan provides an unusual service--he connects swordsmen with people seeking revenge. He faces a moral dilemma when he is hired by both a man named Yang and a woman named Yin to kill Huang. There is a clever secret about Yin and Yang's motives that unfolds nicely. The fight sequences are artistically choreographed by Sammo Hung and Wong lovingly presents the action in a slow motion blur that showcases the languid beauty of martial arts. Other characters meander in and out of the plot. The most compelling is a blind swordsman (Tony Leung Chiu Wai) whose wife has a connection to Huang. The storyline at times gets confusing, but the narration by the two male leads offers nice clarity. Wong chooses to keep his set uncluttered, letting the camera focus on one or two characters rather than a sea of extras. Cinematographer Christopher Doyle enhances the melancholy tone of the film by utilizing sepia tones and dramatic framing that captures an otherworldly essence. --Jae-Ha KimAlso Recommended...
4 out of 4 people found this review helpful:
To Those Who Don't Understand, or Don't Like, This Release... or To Anyone Unfamiliar w/ the FilmI have to disagree that the film's a mess, as some say it is. It is a non-linear film to begin with, and not without reason. It's a journey through a man's thoughts and his random encounters with the people that visit him, who, the most of them, happen to loosely connect/indirectly connect to his life or remind him of his past, and even reveal a bit of their own inner-self turmoil, etc. Kar-Wai's execution is the same way of maybe how Ouyang Feng would remember things of whatever surfaced to his thoughts first, yet it still comes full-circle to emphasize the thing that haunts him most. It may sound like some random things taken out of each and everyone's journal, but they're still events that occurred in that one's life. If you pay attention to detail or things most people take for granted, you realize how much greater things are. And once again, the film is played out (in my interpretation) how Ouyang Feng possibly registers his thoughts. If you realize, he's a bit delusional and/or cynical anyways, since his life-turning event that's lead him to live in the middle of the desert; or maybe yet more discombobulated in the head than we think since, at one point in time in the past, he had one straight mind-set which was to become the greatest swordsman, which came to a sudden stop.
If you expected many action scenes (still neat, for the few brief scenes there was), the film was never driven by that purpose. Find action in Mr. Wong's directorial debut film, As Tears Go By.
In conclusion, I hope I said all the main things behind this film and what I wanted to say, in counter to the negative or confused views or who's new and curious of this film. Wong Kar-Wai set out to preserve this beloved and important film in a very sticky-slow, painstaking, and many unfortunate, process. Also, to one reviewer - you can't compare this to 'CTHD', because 'AT' was one of the major reasons why 'CTHD' came out the way it came out. Plus, both films' storytelling are the polar opposite of each other... yet two great milestone films for the greatest of cinema. The 'Redux' has quite a bit of changes, yet Kar-Wai said, after the reconstruction, that this is THE definitive version of the film he realized he was looking to make.
0 out of 2 people found this review helpful:
at at first you don't succeed...move on2 out of 4 people found this review helpful:
Chinese Art Film5 out of 5 people found this review helpful:
The original movie is betterThe only thing I like about the redux is the sharper images. The new music is not half as effective as the old music. The added titles severed the film into sections and disrupted the flow of the film. The new editing destroyed Leslie Cheung's narrative and rhythm of the film. I hate the bright yellow tint in desert scenes and green tint in some other scenes that make them look annoyingly unnatural. Brigitte Lin's dialogue was changed from the original Cantonese to Mandarin and sounds stiff, but is tolerable. I wish they had just cleaned up the image quality and kept everything else intact.
3 out of 4 people found this review helpful:
Reconstructed Deconstructive MasterpieceBeautifully restored, with a re-recorded soundtrack, Wong Kar Wai's homage to HK action cinema is both a loving celebration and a bittersweet mourning of its passing.
Therefore it's a real treat for all cineastes!
A meditation on change, loss and regret focusing on the darkening days and decline of five swordsmen through interconnecting episodes, ASHES is a deconstruction of HK martial arts cinema (which by 1994 had had better days), a bold and avant garde reinterpretation of the genre's conventions as well as a homage to the classic films of Tsui Hark, the Shaw brothers and Sergio Leone westerns.
The cast is mouthwatering! Just look at those names!!! It reads like a who's who of HK cinema! As to be expected from a cast of this caliber the acting is magnificent. Particularly outstanding are Brigitte Lin who is spellbinding as a schizophrenic swordsman and an empathetic Tony Leung C-W, a fighter for hire who is rapidly losing his sight.The late, great Leslie Cheung turns in a complex, morally ambiguous performance, Jacky Cheung shines as a young swordsman attempting to preserve a sense of chivalry in changing times, Maggie Cheung is radiant and Carina Lau delivers considerable sensuality in what a lesser actress would consider a minor role.
The location of the film is set entirely in a desert, metaphorically depicting the desolation of the characters, which is beautifully lensed by the peerless Christopher Doyle. Some of the shots he achieves have resonated with me for years.
The soundtrack is also extraordinarily beautiful, enhanced by the addition of virtuoso Yo Yo Ma. It's arguably one of the best scores in HK action cinema and an obvious influence on Tan Dun's "Hero" compositions.
In fact ASHES OF TIME is the perfect antidote to the overtly nationalistic, overblown, spectacle-driven Chinese epics of Zhang Yimou that have (unfortunately) come to set the standard for martial arts cinema in contemporary popular consciousness.
Therefore fans of the more recent Chinese fantasy films may find ASHES a difficult viewing because, as typical to his style, Wong Kar Wai delivers a personal, character-driven piece, that is minimalist in action set-pieces and expansive in both scenery and emotional development.
By "reduxing" this landmark film we are given a timely reminder of the creative, cultural roots of the HK martial arts genre but we are also called to reflect upon its demise.