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Review of ASHES OF TIME REDUX - Poetic Meditation on Wu Xia Motifs

posted 10 years ago by ThomasMuf
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ASHES OF TIME, whether in its original 1994 version or the restored 2008 one known as "Redux", is not a conventional martial arts (wuxia pian) film. Neither is it an adaptation of Louis Cha's popular novel "Dōng xié xi dú". Nor is there an actual narrative as such. Rather, it's a collection of meditations on characters from Cha's novel, captured through some of the most astonishingly original and breathtaking images in film history. Please be aware of this before you approach ASHES OF TIME (REDUX) - otherwise you might be disappointed.

The "plot", if you can call it that, concerns Ouyang Feng (Leslie Cheung), who runs a dingy little pension in some unidentified Chinese desert. He recruits hapless swordsmen on the move to act as hitmen on his behalf; his customers include the brother/sister "duo" Murong Ying / Murong Yang (played by Brigitte Lin Ching-Hsia in her final appearance on screen), who essentially want to do away with the other respective twin (There's a twist), but also the farmers from a nearby village who are tired of losing their hard-earned dough to a marauding band of thieves, or a young woman (Charlie Yeung) who wants to avenge her brother's death but has no money to hire a killer. Swordsmen we encounter include a melancholy, nearly blind fella (played by Wong's favorite actor, Tony Leung Chiu-Wai), his former "best bud" Huang Yaoshi (the other Tony Leung, Leung Ka-Fai) and the young, impulsive Hong Qigong (Jackie Cheung). All four men are also romantically involved with girls they left behind (Maggie Cheung, Carina Lau Kar-Wing, etc), all of these "relationships" being unhappy ones. Naturally.

Now if that sounds like a lot of plot, don't be fooled. Most of this is conveyed through the narration of the Leslie Cheung character, or via dialogue. Except, there is no real dialogue, but rather people being at cross-purposes. The failure to communicate meaningfully is one of the themes of ASHES OF TIME. In between, there are several brief, highly stylized (with slow motion, color filters, lens flare, etc) fight scenes, choreographed by Sammo Hung - though you'd never know it. They're quite violent, too, but a world apart from your normal wuxia pian fight scenes.

The concentration on just a few characters and just a few situations/confrontations adds to the substance and stature of ASHES OF TIME. The characters are better-developed than in most regular, overpopulated HK martial arts epics. And the actors of course are magnificent, especially Leslie Cheung, the different modes of expression on his face alone being worth the price of admission. Brigitte Lin has the most screen time/dialogue second to Cheung, and she terrifically conveys steely resolve and vulnerability at the same time.

All of this is captured in the most stunning color images you'll ever see. The BR release of the REDUX version finally restores the high-contrast pictures, over-saturated and almost surreal colors that Wong Kar-Wai and his Australian cinematographer Christopher Doyle (who won all the important HK "best cinematography" awards that year) intended. Previous home video releases, notably the original, official HK laser disc and DVD by Mei Ah, suffered from washed-out colors and low-contrast mastering which made ASHES OF TIME look like a spaghetti western. It was almost like the negative had been drowned in Worcester sauce. Here, we finally have a release that does this masterpiece proud.

The differences between ASHES OF TIME 1994 and REDUX are as multiple as they are marginal. If you're looking for a detailed, minute-by-minute chronology of the different/cut scenes and set-ups, go to http://www.wongkarwai.net/forums/viewtopic.php?p=19677&sid=2e8eeec 8a2de6ef787a0f145e3d68a63#p19677. Because the negative at the time Wong decided to restore the film was in such a bad shape (because of improper storage in a damp warehouse), some material could not be saved. This is why the REDUX version is shorter by a few minutes than the 1994 cut. Wong also inserted five captions to indicate the change of the seasons in the story. None of that matters much. What DOES matter is the wonderful restoration of the images and the new sound mix, which required parts of the film to be re-scored.

If you know what you are getting into, ASHES OF TIME: REDUX is a feast for the eyes as well as a challenge for the mind. Your typical wu xia pian it is not!

[–] svenrufus 10 years ago

This is great, thanks for that detail and precision in your review.

I watched Ashes 94 a while ago, and recall it being a bit underwhelming in many respects, but having just seen Redux, I'm actually fairly blown away by it. I think the point you make about the difference between the image clarity of the two versions is quite important - the spaghetti western line was good! In Redux the contrast all but jumps out of the screen and hits you in the face, especially in the use of shadows, such as where the light falls through the lattice of a spinning bird cage on to a face, is utterly mesmerising.

I'm tempted to track down the 94 version again to see the difference, or whether I just don't remember it that well, as it's hard to believe that just the image colour and clarity could make that much of an impact in the way I feel about it, but my recent experience far outstrips my recollection of my first exposure.