10.16.08
Review: Ashes of Time Redux
Wong Kar Wai is a cinematic broken heart. Everytime he floods the screen with it I find myself falling for his visual brilliance over and over again. They say the greatest directors strive to tell one story and they spend their entire careers telling it over and over again. This is best seen in directors such as Steven Spielberg who always introduces the extraordinary into the lives of ordinary men. Martin Scorsese forever delves into the minds of outsiders whose way of life has a hard time fitting into the real world. Wong Kar Wai’s characters are forever lost in a world of lonliness and regret. Most recently in his first American effort, My Blueberry Nights, he took his passion stateside to show how universal his themes are and whether or not you found his last film worthwhile he succeeded in translating his visual poetry through the eyes of another set of complicated characters who are only looking for that missing piece of the puzzle.
Wong Kar Wai’s films have always been set in modern times but with Ashes of Time he tackled a genre that has won me over and lost me just as easily over the years; the Asian period piece that films like Once Upon a Time in China made so popular. Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon helped to push this genre on American audiences and thus we were thrown a sleu of similar films making me very reluctant to visit Wong Kar Wai’s take on the genre. I admit I should never judge a film by it’s genre and even as I had to watch the original Ashes of Time on a nauseatingly bad DVD transfer it did little to get in the way of what amounts to a beautifully paced period piece that focuses less on the time its set in and more on the characters themselves.
When I heard Wong Kar Wai was revisiting his masterpiece I was overjoyed that I could finally view the film in a dark theater with clear picture and sound quality. He’s shortened the experience by 7 minutes making the film that much sweeter since it leaves you longing for more. He’s created a definitive cut with some new music and title cards added to the mix. The details of his changes don’t really matter as both versions work for me in almost the same way. Wong’s great asset is the internal monologues of his characters. They meditate on life in a way that only he can get away with. While any other director would handle these self important and at times heavy handed words with too much melodrama he holds the paint brush steadily providing just the right stroke as not to saturate his films with too much pretension.
He never burdens himself with having to explain every little detail. The set up is simple; a hired hitman sets up shop in the dessert. As he meets with clients we learn they all have a sad tale to tell and thus his own story is brought to light until we get to the heart breaking conclusion. Wong deals with the convention of sword fights quite easily, he shrugs them off as dizzying displays of fast movement as if commenting on the over reliance of them in the genre. He leaves out the entertainment value in those scenes in order to reveal how banine they have become and how they do little to move story and only serve to distract from what should be the major focus; the plot.
If Ashes of Time Redux is playing near you I guarantee it has never been in more prestine condition. I’m grateful that with this release we can finally get a copy of the film on DVD (and hopefully Bluray) that can do justice to this wonderful work of art.
5/5
