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Movie Description
Celebrated director Wong Kar-Wai revisits his 1994 film ASHES OF TIME, the Hong Kong filmmaker's only entry into the martial arts genre. Based on the novel by Louis Cha, this film follows a lone swordsman (Leslie Cheung) as time passes. ASHES OF TIME REDUX also stars Tony Leung Ka Fai, Brigitte Lin, and Tony Leung Chiu Wai, and it features an appearance by Maggie Cheung., 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.
Industry Reviews
4 stars out of 5 -- "Christopher Doyle's mesmeric compositions remain unaltered....Less a film to watch than an experience to surrender to."
Empire - Patrick Peters (10/01/2008)
"Chris Doyle's camerawork is typically extraordinary as the demands of capturing light in the desert push him outside his own comfort zone..."
Sight and Sound - Mark Sinker (10/01/2008)
"Visually superb, its score enhanced by added music, ASHES OF TIME REDUX is an elegiac, contemplative work with an elliptical narrative..."
Los Angeles Times - Kevin Thomas (10/17/2008)
"For the love of all things sensual and mysterious, see this one on a big screen." -- Grade: B+
Entertainment Weekly - Lisa Schwarzbaum (10/17/2008)
"[A] delirious swirl of color and blinding star wattage....[ASHES was] important to Mr. Wong's evolution, because it is the film during which he shook off genre and abandoned the banalities of mainstream narrative for visual abstraction, beauty, art."
New York Times - Manohla Dargis (10/09/2008)
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