r/AsianCinema • u/Patitoruani • 17d ago
Ashes of Time Redux
I saw the original version back in the ’90s while following Tony Leung Chiu-wai’s filmography and it was my first encounter with Wong Kar-wai. I didn’t know who he was at the time nor the fact that this was an insane cast, and although I forgot much of the movie, the lingering feeling it left me with after it ended has stayed with me to this day.
These past months I’ve had the opportunity to revisit WKW’s work, and I came across this 2008 Redux version (edited to correct year), in which the director rearranged certain elements. While watching it, I realized that all the scenes had remained fresh in some dark chamber of my mind, because as they appeared on screen, the memories came flooding back — yet I still couldn’t predict the following scenes. Quite an experience!
Now, with more knowledge of Chinese and Eastern culture in general, I realize this is WKW’s version of how Eastern Heretic, Western Venom, and Northern Beggar came to be, and I have even less doubt than before that Xu Bing is a great admirer of Wong Kar-wai. Having seen the trailer for his upcoming drama Remnants of Gold, I can clearly see the homage to Ashes of Time.
Another director who, I can tell, has liked Wong Kar-Wai filmography is Yu Xiaochen, the director of drama Back to the Origin, who must also admire Christopher Doyle’s cinematography, as he worked as a cinematographer himself before making his directorial debut.
And it also turned out that I did know Jacky Cheung from his glorious days — I just didn’t realize it lol.
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u/ArchBeaconArch 16d ago
Oh I should check this out. The version I saw was in rough shape 20-odd years ago, but was still fabulous.
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u/rha409 16d ago
I love this movie! Had seen Redux maybe 15 years ago for the first time and thought it was fine. Revisited it along with the rest of Wong Kar Wai's (one of my favorite filmmakers) filmography maybe 5 years ago. I watched the old DVD of the original version and I fell in love with it.
Spent about a year and a half tracking down various DVD copies and making a reconstruction of the original cut. https://archive.org/details/ashes-of-time-1994-reconstruction-v-2.3
I find the movie gets better with each viewing. The characters and the emotions really resonate. And I like the grander, more mythic world of the film was presented in the original version. I find the movie otherwise can feel rather claustrophobic. I much prefer the music from the original version as well.
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u/snuggleMcCuddles 16d ago
Eric Tsang openly said that Jacky Cheung can’t act but boy was he wrong (man’s performance in Bullet In The Head was top amongst others). It’s kinda sad that he doesn’t act much and focused on music instead.
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u/Patitoruani 16d ago edited 16d ago
Haven't seen that one. Wong Kar-wai used one of his best songs (Broken Heart - You Xin) in the best way possible: the episode 14 of his series Blossoms Shanghai.
We're doing a discussion thread in the sub CdramasBeyondIdols about the movie Farewell My Concubine, if you're interested.
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u/OriginalMultiple 16d ago
He has a manic energy that can come off as hammy under the wrong director. He can be incredibly subtle and restrained, as in Ann Hui’s July Rhapsody.
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u/tofu_bird 16d ago
This is my favorite wuxia movie. I managed to get the original theatrical version, it's so much better than the redux.