That situation has been recitified with ashes of time redux. Oct 17, 2008 elliptical, sweeping, lovely and thoroughly confusing, ashes of time redux is not a film to rent. This movie is universal in it themes, has a compelling score, has bold cinematography and a compelling characters and a beautifully sad ending that brought tears to my eyes. Ashes of time redux is a chinese movie about a man named huyang, a miscreant who has given up on love, abandons the young princess murong. It turns out that ashes of time is an adaption of jin yongs novel the legend of the condor heroes. Ashes of time redux dvd, 2009 for sale online ebay. Prompted by a necessary undertaking to preserve the original 1994 film s surviving elements, ashes of time redux is not merely a restoration but a stunning reorchestration of wongs sweeping wuxia epic, creating an even more intensified expression of the directors singular sense of cinematic construction. Ashes of time redux 2008 ashes of time redux movie. Conceived as a prequel to the popular martial arts novel the eagleshooting hero. The redux was much easier on the eyes and cut out scenes that were utterly confusing. Ashes of time redux 2008, directed by wong karwai movie. Ashes of time redux, wong karwais phoenix project, is.
Watch ashes of time redux now on your favorite device. If one day you hear of a ninefingered hero, thatll be me. From top to bottom, this is a great dvd, and a shining example of what can be done with these sorts of cult films when companies are willing to put a couple of dollars towards the product. Like some of his other work, the movie borrows a few characters from novelist louis cha, but the film is definitely classic wong. The redux part of the title comes from his originally filming his adaptation or, rather. Feb 28, 2010 over the years, ive come to realize that there are several different versions of ashes of time in circulation, some approved by me, some not, as well as the fact that the film was never released in much of the world including the united states. Thats my impression of ashes of time redux, first released in 1994, now reduxed. For ashes of time, wong karwai swapped the conventions of the wuxia genre for his beloved theme of love and loss. A famously troubled shoot, the film took two years and 40 million dollars to produce a shocking sum for a national cinema populated with lowbudget quickies and features a virtual whos who of the hong kong film world. Sep 26, 2008 indeed, the slicing continues 14 years later, as ashes of time redux finds wong still nipping and tucking at his oneiric wuxia epic. Due to the original prints being lost wong reedited and rescored the film in 2008 for future theater, dvd and bluray releases under the title ashes of time redux. I didnt see the first version, which the director considered unfinished, requiring 14 years of additional thought.
Ashes of time redux has been ranked 5781 times, wins 43. Ashes of time redux is still a challenging film, full of interweaving story lines and intentionally ambiguous motivations, but by smoothing out some edges and remastering the audio and visual, the movie finally gets out of its own way to let the audience get at all of the wonderful things it contains. A famously troubled shoot, the film took two years and 40 million. Ashes of time redux a film by wong kar wai buy the dvd buy the dvd. That isnt to say that ashes of time redux is not confusing it is. Rent ashes of time redux 2008 on dvd and bluray dvd. So far has karwais, or wongs, art grown and deepened in the meantime especially in the great in the mood for love that i am not quite sure why he set himself the task. Rent ashes of time redux 2008 starring brigitte lin and leslie cheung on dvd and bluray. Wong karwai revisited the film and created the redux version which. A brokenhearted hit man moves to the desert where he finds skilled swordsmen to carry out his contract killings.
The redux suffix harkens back to an epic revisited think apocalypse now redux and serves as a testament to karwais appeal to the west. Master hong kong filmmaker wong karwai directed this lyrical, dreamlike martial arts epic. Wong kar wai works his magic in this long planned reworking of his legendary, romantic and one and only martial arts film, previously. In 2008, karwai wong reedited and rescored the film, rereleasing it under the title ashes of time redux. Jan 10, 2011 ashes of time redux wong karwais ashes of time is a baffling, frustrating but utterly intoxicating film, a longdelayed project that displays its piecemeal construction possibly more so in this 2008 revision that cuts some scenes while adding others. Ashes of time redux, wong karwais phoenix project, is rising at. I was not particularly impressed at the time, in part because i approached it as a wuxia film first and as a wkw mood piece second, and in part because there apparently hasnt been a decent print to be found for years. This time around, ashes of time being a wkw product, i had to find out what makes such a film so special to so many people. Ashes of time is inspired by characters from louis chas martial arts novel the eagleshooting heroes.
Ashes of time is a cinematic masterpiece, not for everyone. I love wong kar wai and his movies, 2046 and this movie especially. A brokenhearted hit man moves to the desert where he finds skilled swordsmen to carry out his. Ashes of time redux wong karwais primordial soup by charles mudede. After abandoning princess murong yin, a hit is put out on huyang by her brother murong yang as revenge. W ong karwais retinkered ashes of time redux, like his neverreallyproperlyfinished 2046, is a beautiful but frustrating film about a man in a desert who arranges sword killings. These are the sort of excited bulletins that come in minute by minute in wong kar wais ashes of time redux, a new york film festival selection that is opening right now. Oscars best picture winners best picture winners golden globes emmys san diego comiccon new york comiccon sundance film. Wong kar wais redux, with a few slight changes from his 1994 classic, is a feast for the eyes, if a little difficult to follow. A complicated, sparse, and beautiful film, ashes of time redux is the slightly tweaked version of wong kar wais 1994 film. Dramacool will always be the first to have the episode so please bookmark and add us on facebook for update enjoy.
As for the redux versus the original ive watched both. If wong karwai were a painter, he might sometimes create bold, bright swirls on his canvas, with something figurative swimming into view. Ashes of time redux is a martialarts movie that took years to film and more years to restore. Ashes of time redux critics consensus wong kar wais redux, with a few slight changes from his 1994 classic, is a feast for the eyes, if a little difficult to follow. Ouyan leslie cheung is heartbroken, after losing the love of his life to his brother. Starring leslie cheung, tony leung ka fai, tony leung chiu wai, jacky cheung, maggie cheung, carina lau, brigitte lin, charlie yeung. For ashes of time redux, the whole film was put back in the postproduction mill with a result that appeals to ear and eye. Does this mean that ashes of time is now a lesser film. The following ashes of time redux episode 1 english sub has been released. Despite minor revisions mostly visual, as christopher doyles colors look infinitely more vibrant now than in previously available prints, the film remains as ravishingly impenetrable as ever. Monica film center santa monica monica film center santa monica. Jun 28, 20 a famously troubled shoot, the film took two years and 40 million dollars to produce a shocking sum for a national cinema populated with lowbudget quickies and features a virtual whos who of.
Oct 05, 2008 then he spent five years restoring, reassembling, colorcorrecting and rescoring the film, and now ashes of time redux, part of this years new york film festival, opens at theaters on friday. The film is still riveting and deliriously enthralling, but fifteen years later, the result feels slightly hollow. You start with a middle man who gets compensation for assassinations committed in china, desolate is the setting. Sep, 2008 w ong karwais retinkered ashes of time redux, like his neverreallyproperlyfinished 2046, is a beautiful but frustrating film about a man in a desert who arranges sword killings. Redux, provocatively elicits a hollywood action film. It is an intriguing film in some ways, with lovely swirling images, and wongs distinctive emphasis on closeups and faces, suggesting an interiority of mood and feeling. Ashes of time is a 1994 hong kong film written and directed by wong karwai, and inspired by. Wong karwai revisited the film and created the redux version which premiered at the cannes film festival 2008. I didnt see the first version, which the director considered. Starring leslie cheung, tony leung ka fai, tony leung chiu wai, jacky cheung. In the filmography of hong kong director wong karwai, 1994s ashes of time looks like the odd film out. Perhaps redux can be called a lesser endeavor, as the film arguably needed reediting.
I believe that ashes of time redux is a great movie as defined by roger ebert, a movie so compelling you want to watch it again. However, the power of ashes of time is hard to deny, redux or otherwise. Both the original and redux versions can still be found on asian markets, while only the redux version is available to western markets. Posted by alison willmore on october 9th when wong karwais lone attempt at a martial arts film, ashes of time, first came out in 1994, it was considered by most to be awfully pretty and mystifyingly elliptical. An expensive martial arts movie with a cast of allstar hong kong actors, ashes of time was so longinthemaking that wong shot chungking express during an editing break. The original dvd was almost unwatchable due to poor resolution and choppy picture. The film can also be regarded as a wuxia version of days of being wild. Tweet when i first saw ashes of time a decade or so ago, i failed to find any meaning in its story. This legendary film has been described by critis as insanely gorgeous. Watching ashes of time redux isnt quite like seeing a whole new movie, but it was certainly a new and better experience. The end result is ashes of time redux, which unusually for a directors cut is actually shorter than the original work.
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