Review: "Ashes of Time Redux"
David Ashley
Seen on: September 4, 2008 (Film opens Oct. 10)
The players:
Director: Kar Wai Wong, Writer: Kar Wai Wong,
Cast: Leslie Cheung, Tony Leung, Jackie Cheung, Brigitte Lin, Maggie Cheung
Facts of interest: "Ashes of Time Redux" is based on a novel by Louis Cha.
The plot: A hit man moves to the desert where he encounters swordsmen who are skilled enough to carry out his contract killings.
Our thoughts: You don't often encounter films with the breadth of “Ashes of Time Redux” - films that function as enhanced narratives that aspire to the level of fables or myths. The original 1994 “Ashes of Time” was the first film put out by Wong Kar Wai’s newly christened Jet Tone Productions, and it was during a two-month break in the movie’s production that Wong and his ideal cinematographer, Christopher Doyle, shot the lark that became “Chungking Express” – and without intending to disparage his subsequent works, I suggest that 1994 is the best year of Wong’s career.
