Genre: Action, Martial Art
Starring: Leslie Cheung, Tony Leung Ka Fai, Brigitte Lin, Tony Leung Chiu-Wai
Release year: 2008
Language: Cantonese
Subtitle: English
SYNOPSIS:
Two years after forming his own production company, Jet Tone, Hong Kong director Wong Kar Wai released ASHES OF TIME, a martial-arts epic based on THE EAGLE-SHOOTING HEROES, a series of novels by... Two years after forming his own production company, Jet Tone, Hong Kong director Wong Kar Wai released ASHES OF TIME, a martial-arts epic based on THE EAGLE-SHOOTING HEROES, a series of novels by Louis Cha writing under the pseudonym Jin Yong. The film was set in jianghu, an imaginary world with its own views of good and evil. In 2008, unhappy with the many alternate versions of ASHES OF TIME available, Wong reedited and restored the film, working with the original negative and soundtrack, which were in severe disrepair. The new version, called ASHES OF TIME REDUX, which screened at such prestigious international gatherings as the Cannes, Toronto, and New York Film Festivals, is a breathtaking example of Wong's masterly storytelling technique, combined with the stunning cinematography of Christopher Doyle and gorgeous new cello solos recorded by Yo-Yo Ma. Leslie Cheung stars as Ouyang Feng, a mysterious man living alone in the desert, where people come to him when they need someone eliminated. He is visited annually by Huang Yaoshi (Tony Leung Ka Fai), who brings him stories from the outside world--and especially his lost love (Maggie Cheung). Meanwhile, Murong Yang (Brigitte Lin) has contracted to have Huang killed, and Murong Yin (also Lin) wants her brother taken care of. For a film that examines the role of memory in people's lives, Wong assembled an all-star cast that also includes Tony Leung Chiu Wai as a blind swordsman, Carina Lau as his wife, Charlie Young as a young girl seeking vengeance, and Jacky Cheung as a poor swordsman looking for work. ASHES OF TIME REDUX is a visual treat, with Doyle (who has also teamed with Wong on such well-regarded films as DAYS OF BEING WILD and IN THE MOOD FOR LOVE) capturing swirling sands and beautiful, treacherous landscapes, resulting in a stirring sensory experience.
RATING: ?/10
USER RATING:
REVIEW:
" Ashes of Time Redux is a brooding, melancholic twist on the wuxia, the genre of historical martial arts films that typically focus on swordplay and action. Writer/director Wong Kar Wai delivers swordplay from time to time, but in radical fragments that refuse the typical pleasures of martial arts violence and instead play as counterpoint to the film’s true focus: the characters and their tortured psyches. Yet, in typical Wong Kar Wai fashion, the characters and their stories are oblique and often confusing, leaving us with little to understand outside of the overriding emotions that drive the film.
The film, which was Wong’s third, was originally shot over six months in 1992, and it proved to be so difficult to piece together in postproduction that Wong left it for a while to shoot Chungking Express (1994), the film that would first gain him significant attention in the West. When Ashes of Time was released in 1994, Wong considered it unfinished, thus we get the Redux version, which features a digitally restored image that heightens the intensity of the film’s colors, an enhanced score by Yo-Yo Ma, and possibly some new footage or at least rearrangement of the existing footage. The fact that Wong would return to one of his early films at this stage in his career suggests that, like the memories that torture his protagonists, it was something he simply could not let go.
The plot is a tangle of flashbacks and interlocking stories and interconnected characters, and a single viewing of the film will most likely result in a sense of visual dazzle and not much else. The main character is Ou-yang Feng (Leslie Cheung), who specializes in “solving problems.” He runs a small tavern in the middle of a desert where people bring him their problems, which usually involve the need to have someone killed. Ou-yang also narrates the film, which takes place over five clearly marked seasons, and his words embody many of the themes that have come to obsess Wong Kar Wai’s films, most notably loneliness, disconnect, and especially the burden of romantic memories (one character says quite directly that the “root of man’s problems” is “memory”).
There is more to the story--much more, in fact, including murderous siblings, a blind swordsman played by Tony Leung Chiu Wai, and various lost loves--but Wong Kar Wai’s narrative approach is so frequently confounding and elliptical that at some point it is easy to disassociate from the story and simply drink in the images, free from context or meaning. The story’s events take place during a drought, so the images (shot by Wong’s longtime cinematographer Christopher Doyle) are scorched tones of yellow and brown, suggesting both heat and dryness, set against bleary blue skies that look like dripping watercolors. Interiors are often lit with colored lights, casting characters in various shades of unnatural blues and greens that give them the appearance of sitting beneath neon signs. The film’s imagery is its most striking asset, creating an impressionistic sense of both vastness and intimacy that frequently overwhelms the characters and their problems... "
Source: by James Kendrick from QNetwork
PREVIEW:
FEATURED CLIPS:
ASHES OF TIME REDUX AT NEW YORK FILM FESTIVAL:
RELATED LINKS:
========================================
NOW IT'S YOUR TURN TO SHOW ME YOUR LOVE! BUY ME A DRINK or CHICKEN WINGS. I'm so thirsty and hungry after uploading the movies for you. o(^_^)o
(NOTE: Besides Paypal, the restaurant accepts all major credit cards)
THANK YOU SO MUCH!
========================================
NOTE:
[*] TO JOIN FILES END WITH .001 .002 .003 ... USE FILEFJ. DOWNLOAD HERE
[*] TO OPEN FILES END WITH .RAR, USE WINRAR DOWNLOAD HERE
[*] TO PLAY VARIOUS VIDEO FORMAT SUCH AS AVI, MP4, WMV... AND BE ABLE TO WATCH IT WITH SUBTITLE, INSTAL K-LITE CODEC PACK DOWNLOAD HERE
[*] TO PLAY FILES END WITH RMVB, RM, INSTALL REAL MEDIA PLAYER OR REAL ALTERNATIVE DOWNLOAD HERE
[*] MORE USEFUL INFOMATION AT FAQ/SUPPORT
If you enjoy this movie, leave some comments. Your comments are valuable to me and keep me doing my job well.
NEWER MOVIES
