Ashes of Time
by Kar Wai Wong
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DVD Cover Information
Actor: Brigitte Lin, Jacky Cheung, Leslie Cheung, Maggie Cheung, Tony Leung Chiu WaiDirector: Kar Wai Wong
DVD: Region Code 1
Audio: English (Unknown); English (Original Language)
Format: Color, DVD, NTSC
Picture Format: 1.33:1
Running Time: 100 minutes
DVD Release Date: 1998-10-14
Audience Rating: Unrated
Studio: Cav Distribution
Movie Reviews of Ashes of Time
Movie Review: Wong Kar Wai's masterpiece, a milestone in art and beauty....Kidnapped and mutilated by impious DVD companies.
Summary: 5 Stars
(5 stars for "Ashes of Time", 1 star for this or any known DVD edition. What a shame.)
One of the best most awarded films and one of the most deep explorations of loneliness and sorrow, justly ranking among the best produced Honk Kong films of the 90's, this mysterious and sensual portrayal of sadness and melancholy is often mistaken for the typical swordsplay action film, dissapointing and even boring the fans of the genre. But make no mistake: This is an Art film in capital letters, a profound and oblique vision within the human soul, based on a non-linear development, flashbacks and voiceovers, with total character emphasys, expressionist camera and enveloping soundtrack, about the pain and intense regrets of the past and memories. The Wuxia film people expects, happens to be only the scenario for this striking epic tale about the meditation of love and the scars of the soul. Never the less, the mysticism provided by the ancient period and the arid landscapes, added to the skilled but tormented master swordsmen stereotype, is the essence and main appealing of the film. The action sequences by Sammo Hung are few and registered in a very particular and hard to digest fashion, like slow motion or kinetic blurry sequences, serving only the purpose of displaying dramatic consequences or graphic portayals of some characters.
Wong Kar Wai's sole intrusion in the popular Wuxia genre and recasting to the martial arts conventions, trascends the usual plot about honor, revenge, or the indominability of the spirit as a mere vehicle for showdowns and violent climax and vindication. Instead, he uses his incredible talent in creating a beautiful, dreamlike and stylised composition about memory, the irretriavability of the past and the consequent impossibility of love and happiness. The affecting enigmatic performances, the atmospheric stirring music, and the mesmerizing imagery of sterile alienating landscapes, are beyond known emotional levels for the genre, and the names of Kurosawa and Leone come out as possible influences, mostly because of Christopher Doyle's gorgeous and lyrical cinematography providing livish visual poetry, as composer Frankie Chan (known as the manchu prince in "The Prodigal Song") creates the definitive Wuxia soundtrack, painting the atmosphere with delicate and sad sound layers accompanying the moments of deep revelations, or the loud rhytmic war fanfares of the epic battles.
The flaw of this otherwise perfect masterpiece, is that it requires more than one view to integrate the amount of apparently diffuse elements of the non-linear and flashback style of the movie, as it is intellectually demading and highly stimulating. After the second or third viewing or a previous study of the plot, the experience can finally be rewarding, and once you're there, there's no turning back, as this movie steals your heart. Because this movie lacks of a single storyline, but it's based instead on different but connected characters and their memories, i would like to provide a short profile on each one for better understanding of the plot and the degrees of profoundity:
- Ouyang Feng (Leslie Cheung): Once known as Evil West, Feng ekes out a lonely existence as a hired sword and agent for other assasins in a remote desert abode. Getting on years and tormented by memories of lost love, he's the main narrator of the story and the connection between other characters. Cynic and Haunted by the past.
- Huang Yaoshi (Tony Leung Kar Fai): Evil East, Ouyang's old friend and fellow swordsman, the emotionally crippled hero appears one day in Ouyang's home with a bottle of magic memory-erasing wine given my a mysterious acquaintance, as he drowns his lovelorn misery in it. Lonely and northless.
- Murong Yan / Yin (Brigitte Lin): A swordswoman with a split personality (Yan, the brother and Yin, the sister) inside a wounded soul, Yan hires Ouyang Feng to kill Huang Yaoshi as he betrayed his sister. Later, Yin also tries to hire Feng to kill her brother Yan, in a fair display of insanity and despair. Hungry for affection, hates herself.
- The Girl (Charlie Yeung): One day, the shy but determined Girl visits Ouyang Feng to hire him for revenge against the soldiers who killed his brother, with nothing to offer but a basket of eggs and an old mule. Feng declines, so she stays outside for days waiting for someone who can help her. Sad and vulnerable.
- Blind Swordsman (Tony Leung Chiu Wai): A colleague of Feng and Yaoshi, this enigmatic and sad character is looking for work as an assasin to raise money to return to his hometown and see the peach blossoms before he goes completely blind. Nostalgic and abandoned.
- Hong Qi (Jackie Cheung): A barefoot beggar with incredible fighting skills, he is often used by Feng in some dirty works. He is in searching of his old self before he got involved with Feng's bussiness and cinicism, and he found in The Girl outside Feng's house, the oportunity for redemption. The only optimistic character despite the circumstances.
Those are the basic characters, and their stories and relationships are developped as the movie moves forward in several climaxes for each one, as well as other secondary but also important appereances of Maggie Cheung and Carina Liu as abandoned lovers, bring some sense and connection to the drama.
Finally, please don't get me started on this or any DVD, VCD, or even VHS edition of this outstanding classic. The only decent edition of "Ashes of Time" is the MEI AH Hong Kong DVD, actually the Laser Disc translation with imbedded english/chinese subtitles , 1.0 mono, and not even a scene selection. Now wait, you think that's bad,this US edition is a total mess.
GOOD NEWS!!!!!! On October 10 2008, Sony Pictures will release "Ashes of Time REDUX", a new remastered version with extra footage and new soundtrack. I've heard it's quite amazing, as it was already released in other countries in many film festivals.
HOPE, is what keeps me to hang myself from the injustice of this criminal DVD edition. If you love Wuxia and romance asian style,like " the bride with the white hair", "storm Riders", "Hero", or "crouching tiger, hidden dragon", don't miss this one. And please visit an Asian Movies online store for the Mei Ah edition of this classic.
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