Days of Being Wild

Written and directed by Wong Kar-Wai, Days of Being Wild is the story of a notorious playboy who tries to find his identity while dealing with his own romantic entanglements as those women seek solace in other men. The film is the first part of an informal trilogy that would be followed by 2000’s In the Mood for Love and 2004’s 2046 that explores the idea of love and loneliness as it’s all set in 1960s Hong Kong. Starring Leslie Cheung, Andy Lau, Maggie Cheung, Carina Lau, Jacky Cheung, Tony Leung Chiu-Wai, and Rebecca Pan. Days of Being Wild is a ravishing yet captivating film from Wong Kar-Wai.

The film is a multi-layered story that revolves the lives of a cruel playboy whose entanglements with two different women has them feel hurt while the playboy goes on a journey of his own to find out his true identity when the escort who had raised him told him about his true parentage. It’s a film that explores the idea of rejection and loneliness all in the world of his playboy named York (Leslie Cheung) who likes to wander around in the many situations he’s in where he woos a woman and then moves on to something else. For the two women he woos in Su Li Zhen (Maggie Cheung) and Mimi (Carina Lau), both of them go into different journeys after the rejection where Zhen talks to a cop named Tide (Andy Lau) while Mimi is being pursued by York’s friend Zeb (Jacky Cheung). York would also go into his journey to find his real mother as his relationship with his guardian in the aging escort Rebecca (Rebecca Pan) starts to disintegrate.

Wong Kar-Wai’s script has this very unique narrative where it doesn’t follow any conventional narratives where its first act is about York’s antics with Su Li Zhen and later his affair with Mimi. The second act is about Zhen meeting Tide where the latter is just a beat cop doing his job as Zhen just talks to him where the two become friends for a while. The second act also plays into the tumultuous relationship between York and Mimi where it’s filled with a lot of indifference from York who is more concerned about his adopted mother’s life with another man and her desire to move to the U.S. It all plays to this third act where York travels to the Philippines to find his biological mother but he would endure the similar kind of pain Zhen and Mimi endured but in very different ways.

Kar-Wai would add bits of voice-over narration to express the loneliness the characters face. Especially where York keeps talking about a bird that just flies continuously only to land when it dies which serves as a metaphor for the life he’s leading. A life that is often quite empty where he would meet a major character in the film’s third act who witnesses the emptiness of York’s life up close. The third act would also play into a lot of ambiguities over the fate of these characters including an unnamed gambler (Tony Leung Chiu-Wai) who appears at the end of the film.

Kar-Wai’s direction is truly evocative in the way he presents life in 1960s Hong Kong where it’s a world that is quite exciting. Going for a hand-held style that is quite loose but also with a sense of control, it plays to this sense of change that is occurring in the 1960s where the attitudes of men start to lose its way a bit as the two women that York encounters would both deal with tribulations over the fallout of their relationship with him. Zhen and Mimi would have similar reactions to the way they were rejected by York as Kar-Wai’s compositions shows them in very fragile moments where the framing is very succinct with very little emphasis on close-ups in favor of wide and medium shots. Even where the two women would meet two men who were willing to help as it plays into how they would react to this gesture.

The direction also has Kar-Wai take great care into the way he presents not just Hong Kong but also the Philippines as it has this air of style that is seductive in its imagery. While much of the Hong Kong presentation is a bit dreary with some unique palettes to convey a mood, there is something about the scenes in the Philippines that is more dream-like but also off in some ways where York would encounter elements of danger. Notably as Kar-Wai would utilize some strange camera angles to present something that is a bit surreal but also grounded in the way York had lived his life. Yet, it is followed by an ending that is described as ambiguous but also something where things are changing over everything that the characters in the film have endured. Overall, Kar-Wai crafts a very abstract yet intoxicating film about rejection and loneliness.

Cinematographer Christopher Doyle does phenomenal work with the film‘s cinematography with its use of grainy colored palettes and dark lighting schemes for some of the film‘s interior scenes along with its emphasis on the color green to play with its mood as Doyle‘s work is truly a major highlight of the film. Editors Kit-Wai Kan, Patrick Tam, and William Chang do fantastic work with the editing where it is quite straightforward in its presentation while they do create a few montages and some rhythmic moments for some of the film‘s darker moments. Production/costume designer William Chang does amazing work with the look of the apartments and such for the scenes set in Hong Kong and in the Philippines along with some of the clothes that Mimi wears to play into her exotic style.

Sound recorder Benny Chu does excellent work with the sound to convey some of the intimacy that goes on in some of the scenes along with the craziness and textures into the sense of longing that occurs. The film’s music by Terry Chan is wonderful as it is mostly low-key with its orchestral-based music and jazz pieces while the soundtrack includes lots of jazz pieces as well as Latin-based cuts to play into the world that the characters live in.

The film’s cast is brilliant for the ensemble that includes some notable small appearances from Tita Munoz as York’s mother, Danilo Antunes as Rebecca’s mother, and Tony Leung Chiu-Wai as the unnamed gambler at the end of the film. Jacky Cheung is excellent as York’s friend Zeb who helps York go to the Philippines while trying to woo Mimi. Rebecca Pan is wonderful as York’s adopted mother Rebecca who seems to despise him for wanting to find the truth of his real parentage while also being someone who feels like she’s got nothing more to give. Carina Lau is amazing as Mimi who is also called Lulu and Leung Fung-ying as this woman who falls for York only to feel jealous over his other affairs as she starts to fall apart. Andy Lau is fantastic as the policeman Tide who befriends Su Li Zhen as he listens to her troubles while offering to be someone to talk to as he laments over his feelings for her.

Maggie Cheung is superb as the shy and melancholic Su Li Zhen as a woman whose encounter with York has her feeling hurt and alone while she tries to figure out how to move on. Finally, there’s Leslie Cheung in a phenomenal performance as York as this cruel playboy who likes to play around with women while trying to find out about his roots as he’s also a man who wanders into every situation he’s in no matter how foolish it can be.

Days of Being Wild is a seductive yet gorgeous film from Wong Kar-Wai. Armed with a great cast, lush visuals, and a rapturous film soundtrack, the film is truly one of Kar-Wai’s finest work in terms of what he’s all about in his exploration of love and loneliness. Especially in the way he delves into the themes of rejection and wandering through life in its most poetic manner. In the end, Days of Being Wild is a sensational film from Wong Kar-Wai.

Wong Kar-Wai Films: As Tears Go By - Chungking Express - Ashes of Time/Ashes of Time Redux - Fallen Angels - Happy Together - In the Mood for Love - 2046 - Eros-The Hand - My Blueberry Nights - The Grandmaster - The Auteurs #28: Wong Kar-Wai

© thevoid99 2013

2013 Cannes Marathon: Farewell My Concubine

(Co-Winner of the Palme D’or w/ The Piano & Winner of the FIPRESCI Award at the 1993 Cannes Film Festival)

Based on the novel by Lilian Lee, Farewell My Concubine is the story about the life of two Peking actors who endure many events in the course of five decades as they watch China change through the years. Directed by Chen Kaige and screenplay Lilian Lee and Lu Wei, the film explores the relationship between two men who are bounded together by their love for Peking opera as they endure all sorts of things where they watch the history of China change from afar. Starring Leslie Cheung, Gong Li, and Zhang Fengyi. Farewell My Concubine is an engrossing yet heart-wrenching drama from Chen Kaige.

The film explores the lives of two revered actors of Peking opera who would encounter through many events in the history of China from 1924 during the days when warlords ruled the country to the post-Mao period of China in 1977. Though the story begins in 1977 when these two men in Cheng Dieyi (Leslie Cheung) and Duan Xiaolou (Zhang Fengyi) are practicing the opera known as Farewell My Concubine that would recall how they met when Cheng was known as Xiaodouzi (Ma Mingwei) as he was accepted to the school after his mother cuts off an extra finger where he is later protected and befriended by Duan who was known as Xiaoshitou (Fei Yang). Both boys would endure harsh punishments in their training to be actors which would pay off as men where they would have success but Duan’s attraction towards a prostitute in Juxian (Gong Li) while Cheng is courted by an opera patron named Yuan Shiqing (Ge You).

The screenplay by Lillian Lee and Lu Wei not only uses the opera as a way to help tell the story about the fates of these two men but also the events they would endure such as Japan’s occupation of China in the 1930s, the end of World War II, the Chinese Civil War, and the Cultural Revolution. While they have a relationship that can be tumultuous at times, there is still love between these two men though Duan treats Cheng like a brother though Cheng’s feelings for Duan is more than just brotherly. The presence of Juxian would threaten that relationship as she would have an uneasy relationship with Cheng though she would become one of the few people in his life who would care for him. Even as she would help him face against accusations of treason in the aftermath of World War II or being usurped by his protégée Xiaosi (Lei Han) before a performance. The events that these two men and the people close to them would encounter wouldn’t just test their relationship but also would force them to do things they aren’t proud of.

Chen Kaige’s direction is very mesmerizing in the way he explores the world of two boys who grow into men in the span of five decades. Notably as he shoots some of the early scenes set in 1924 in black-and-white and then into color to express a period in time that is chaotic where children don’t have much prospects. Kaige also showcases the sense of realism into what boys have to do to become Peking opera actors where the training is very punishing but also has this sense of discipline that is just fascinating to watch. Though there are moments that are unsettling that would include tragedy, it would play into the development of Cheng and Duan as well as strengthening their bond. The former becomes intent on being a great actor after seeing the Farewell My Concubine play. The latter acts as the older brother who is aware of Cheng’s determination as he would help out. Both would become these revered actors with a troupe that acts as a family where the direction is straightforward in some parts of the film such as the close-ups and medium shots.

The scenes of the Peking opera is a major highlight of the film not just how the story is told but also in how the relationship between the two men play where things definitely become more chaotic as the events in China would reflect that. Notably in the third act where the relationship between Cheng and Duan is quite strained as there’s some courtroom dramas as well as dealing with Communist party over comments from the past and such. There is also a sense of disconnect that the two deal with as Duan is eager to have a simple life with Juxian while Cheng wants to play the role that he has done for all of his life. The outcome like the play itself would be tragic but also fitting to everything these two men endure. Overall, Kaige creates a very sprawling yet exhilarating drama about the lives of two actors and their encounter with history.

Cinematographer Gu Changwei does excellent work with the film‘s colorful cinematography with some of its early use of black-and-white to some of the colored lighting schemes and use of lights to play up some of its drama and its opera scenes. Editor Pei Xiaonan does brilliant work with the editing to play up some of its drama through rhythmic cuts while structuring the film with some fade-outs. Production designers Yuhe Yang and Zhanjia Yang, with art director Huaikai Chen, do fantastic work with the set pieces from the opera presentations to the training houses and places the characters encounter throughout the course of the film.

Costume designer Chen Changmin does amazing work with the costumes from the clothes the actors wear during the performance to the use of more casual yet simpler clothing to play out the sense of changing times. Makeup artists Fan Qingshan and Guan Rui Xu do terrific work with the makeup to create the personalities of the characters during their stage performances. The sound work of Jing Tao is superb for the atmosphere that is created in the opera scenes as well as the more raucous moments during the protests and such. The film’s music by Zhao Jiping is wonderful for its mixture of soaring orchestral music with Chinese folk music to capture the drama that occurs throughout the film.

The film’s cast is great as it features some notable small roles from Lu Qui as the boys’ master Guan, Li Dan and Yang Yongchao as the boys’ classmate Laizi as a child and later a teen, Li Chun as the teenage Xiaosi, Ying Da as the actor’s troupe manager Na Kun, Yidi as the Eunuch Zhang whom the teenage Cheng would meet, and Lei Han as Cheng’s young protégée Xiaosi who would later usurp him as a way to humiliate Cheng while taking part in the Cultural Revolution. Ge You is excellent as the opera patron Yuan Shiqing who takes an interest in Cheng as he is also a fan of Peking opera only to get into some trouble regarding his involvement with the Japanese.

Gong Li is tremendous as Juxian as a prostitute who later becomes Duan’s wife as she tries to deal with all of the turmoil they endure as well as Cheng’s fall from grace as she would try to help him despite her reservations towards Cheng. In the role of Duan Xiaolou, there’s Fei Yang as the child version of Duan brother while Zhao Hailong plays the version of Duan as a teenager where they both maintain that sense of protectiveness towards Cheng. For the roles of Cheng Diyei, there’s Ma Mingwei as the child version of Cheng and Yin Zhei as his teenager counterpart where both boys play up that air of androgyny in Cheng. In the adult roles of Duan and Cheng, Zhang Fengyi and Leslie Cheung are incredible in their respective roles with Fengyi being the more aggressive and testosterone approach of Duan while Cheung is more sensitive and dramatic as Cheng as the two are just fantastic to watch in the way they act together.

Farewell My Concubine is a phenomenal film from Chen Kaige that features the brilliant performances of Leslie Cheung, Zhang Fengyi, and Gong Li. The film is definitely one of the most compelling stories about an ever changing world told from the eyes of two Peking opera actors trying to keep the Peking opera alive. It’s also a film that explores the bond between two men in the span of five decades as they endure all sorts of trials and tribulations during China’s tumultuous history. In the end, Farewell My Concubine is a rapturous film from Chen Kaige.

Chen Kaige Films: (Yellow Earth) - (The Big Parade) - (King of the Children) - (Life on a String) - (Temptress Moon) - (The Emperor and the Assassin) - (Killing Me Softly) - (Together (2002 film)) - (The Promise (2005 film)) - (Forever Enthralled) - (Sacrifice (2010 film)) - (Caught in the Web)

© thevoid99 2013

2013 Cannes Marathon: Happy Together

(Winner of the Best Director Prize to Wong Kar-Wai at the 1997 Cannes Film Festival)

Written and directed by Wong Kar-Wai, Happy Together is the story about a tumultuous romance between two men as they travel from Hong Kong to Buenos Aires where they endure more trouble as they make up, break up, and do all sorts of things. The film is a look into the world of love and its complications told from the perspective of a man overwhelmed in his troubled relationship. Starring Tony Leung Chiu-Wai, Leslie Cheung, and Chang Chen. Happy Together is a rich yet exotic film from Wong Kar-Wai.

The film is about a relationship between two different men as they travel to Argentina in hopes to visit the Iguazu Falls. Instead, they get lost on their way as they get separated only to meet again in Buenos Aires to resume their relationship but it becomes back-and-forth as one becomes frustrated while the other becomes very selfish. As much as Ho Po-Wing (Leslie Cheung) and Lai Yui-fai (Tony Leung Chiu-Wai) have their differences in personalities and drive, they definitely love each other but there comes the question about whether or not they are right for each other? Ho is a very volatile individual who likes to party, get into fights, and be very controlling though he is often apologetic for his behavior but gets into that dangerous cycle again. Lai is a more responsible and sensitive man who is willing to help but doesn’t feel appreciated for what he does for Ho.

The film’s screenplay does have a structure of sorts though it’s very loose as Wong Kar-Wai is more interested in this very tumultuous relationship where it begins with the two arriving in Argentina where they attempt to travel to the Iguazu Falls by car but things don’t go well aside from the fact that the car is a piece-of-shit. Ho and Lai split up where the latter has to find work in order to raise money so he can return to Hong Kong while Ho just wanders around partying with various people and getting into fights where one fight has him coming back to Lai. The two end up being together in Lai’s apartment but the cycle of chaos and selfishness returns where Lai has to work to buy cigarettes and make food for Ho while Ho would blow the money gambling and such. It then raises questions into why does Lai put up with Ho’s selfishness? Another question is why can’t Ho just step up and actually do something for Lai other than teach him tango?

A lot of the film is told from the perspective of Lai as he tries to deal with his relationship with Ho while the narrative would later introduce another character in a Taiwanese immigrant named Chang (Chang Chen) who is definitely the kind of person that Lai needs in his life. While Chang is also someone trying to raise money to return to Taiwan, he’s an individual that is embarking on a journey of his own though his voice-over narration doesn’t reveal whether or not that he’s gay. Chang just adds a new dynamic for Lai’s character development though it also increases his sense of melancholia over how troubled his relationship with Ho is where things finally reach a breaking point.

The direction of Wong Kar-Wai is just intoxicating to watch with its hypnotic imagery and stunning approach to presentation. While it plays to a lot of the visual styles that Kar-Wai is known for that includes slow frame-speeds towards lingering images and motifs that includes lots of references to the Iguazu Falls such as the lamp Ho bought for Lai. It is told with a sense of restraint for the scenes in Lai’s apartment that is a bit cramped but also comforting though it would devolve into chaos once Ho stays there. There is an intimacy to those moments though Kar-Wai would maintain some energy to the scenes where Lai has to cook in the kitchen at his apartment building where it’s always chaotic and then walk up the stairs to his apartment carrying food.

For the scenes in Buenos Aires, Kar-Wai makes the city a character onto itself where it does have this strange yet ethereal quality for what happens in night such as tango dances and what goes on in the city. Notably a sequence where the Obelisco de Buenos Aires shown in the middle of the frame while the frame also contains the clock showing what time it is as it time moves forward. It plays into that world where Lai starts to feel lost as he is obsessed about going to the Iguazu Falls. The direction has Kar-Wai playing up that sense of frenetic style as the film is shown in this heightened yet grainy black-and-white film stock early on before going into full-on color where it plays up that mood of melancholia. Even in the end where once again the colors have this sense of style but also the fact that it plays about the outcome of this relationship as well as Lai’s journey to find strength in himself. Overall, Wong Kar-Wai creates a truly evocative and riveting drama about love gone wrong.

Cinematographer Christopher Doyle does phenomenal work with the photography from the use of grainy black-and-white to play up the turmoil of Ho and Lai‘s relationship to the use of colored lighting schemes to heighten that mood with the use of blue to showcase the images of the Iguazu Falls as well as some of the scenes in the morning as Doyle‘s work is a major highlight of the film. Editors William Chang and Wong Ming-lam do amazing work with the film‘s very stylized editing with its use of jump-cuts as well as playing around with frame-speeds to create these exotic images that play up some of its melancholia.

Production/costume designer William Chang does excellent work with not just the look of Lai‘s small yet quaint apartment but also the Chinese restaurant he and Chang work at as well as the Cantina the two go to while the costumes are mostly casual with some style to play up the different personalities of the three men. The sound work of Chi-Tat Leung and Du-Che Tu is brilliant for the atmosphere is created in some of the film’s locations including Iguazu Falls plus some of the moments at the places the characters encounter. The film’s soundtrack is wonderful for its intoxicating mix of music that features elements of tango-based music from Astor Pataleon Piazzolla as well as ballad by Caetano Veloso plus some frenetic music by Frank Zappa and a cover of the Turtles song Happy Together by Danny Chang.

The film’s small cast consists a lot of interesting appearances from the people in the film though it really belongs to its three principle actors. Chang Chen is great as Chang as a man who is intrigued by Lai’s presence in the restaurant they work as he is eager to go to the lowest point of South America where he would become the one sense of hope in Lai’s troubled life. Leslie Cheung is remarkable as the volatile Ho as a man who wants to party and do crazy things as he often takes advantage of Lai’s kindness while he also tries to apologize to him unaware of how valuable Lai is. Finally, there’s Tony Leung Chiu-Wai in an incredible performance as Lai as a man lost in a trouble relationship as he tries to pull away only to come back as Leung displays that sense of vulnerability and despair as a man who is unsure about who he is in a land that is foreign to him.

Happy Together is a magnificent film from Wong Kar-Wai that features superb performances from Tony Leung Chiu-Wai, Leslie Cheung, and Chang Chen along with some amazing technical contributions from Christopher Doyle and William Chang. The film is definitely one of Kar-Wai’s finest films in terms of its visual style and exploration into the world of troubled relationships. It’s also a film that dares to ask questions while not giving any answers into this relationship that is very chaotic but also very loving. In the end, Happy Together is an outstanding film from Wong Kar-Wai.

Wong Kar-Wai Films: As Tears Go By - Days of Being Wild - Chungking Express - Ashes of Time/Ashes of Time Redux - Fallen Angels - In the Mood for Love - 2046 - Eros-The Hand - My Blueberry Nights - The Grandmaster - The Auteurs #28: Wong Kar-Wai

© thevoid99 2013

Ashes of Time/Ashes of Time Redux

After two feature films, Wong Kar-Wai was emerging as a new voice in Hong Kong cinema who was making films that weren’t the traditional martial arts or crime films of the time. Instead, Kar-Wai stood out as he was making the kind of films that related more to the world of European cinema than the world of his native Hong Kong. For his next feature, Kar-Wai decided to enter the world of the martial arts epic known as wuxia by adapting Louis Cha’s novel The Legend of the Condor Heroes. With getting a cast of some of Asian cinema’s finest actors, the project entitled Ashes of Time wouldn’t just be his most ambitious project to date. It would also become his most complicated and troubled production of his burgeoning career at that time.

The production for Ashes of Time dragged for a year as it went over-budget and over-scheduled largely due to Kar-Wai’s insistence of working without a script. The headaches of the ambitious production shot on location in mainland China’s desert proved to be overwhelming. After shooting completed, Kar-Wai took a break to work on another project that would become Chungking Express as it was released in early 1994. While working on another project that would become Fallen Angels, Kar-Wai went to work on editing and finishing Ashes of Time for its release in the fall of 1994.

The film would received mixed reviews as it also became a box office failure where the film disappeared for years as Kar-Wai’s cult began to grow internationally. Even as audiences became interested in Ashes of Time where the film was shown but in different versions. In 2003, Kar-Wai along with his longtime cinematographer Christopher Doyle and longtime editor/art director William Chang to create a re-assembled version of the film with copies of the film from China and France to be their source since the original negatives were in bad shape.

Another problem for the re-assembled version wasn’t just color-correcting the film but also creating a new score since the soundtrack was heavily-damaged to re-record. With the help of Yo-Yo Ma in creating new cello solos based on Wu Tong’s new arrangements. A new score along with pieces from the original score was re-created for the new assembled version that would be called Ashes of Time Redux.

Written for the screen and directed by Wong Kar-Wai. Ashes of Time (Dung che sai duk) tells the story of a heartbroken swordsman who serves as a middleman between bounty hunters and those seeking help. Along the way, the swordsmen deal with individuals who want revenge on bandits or siblings while he also deals with his own past and regrets. Part wuxia film and part drama, it’s a film that would broaden the wuxia genre as it would help set the course of other films of that genre such as Ang Lee’s Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon and the recent films of Zhang Yimou. Featuring choreography from legendary martial arts star Sammo Hung, the film stars such Kar-Wai regulars Leslie Cheung, Brigitte Lin, Tony Leung Chiu-Wai, Carina Lau, and Maggie Cheung along with Tony Leung Ka-Fai, Charlie Yeung, and Jacky Cheung. Ashes of Time/Ashes of Time Redux is a hypnotic yet mesmerizing film from Wong Kar-Wai.

(Note: The following plot description and film analysis is based on the Redux version of the film)

Living alone in the desert as a middleman for bounty hunters and its customers, Ouyang Feng (Leslie Cheung) is a man filled with cynicism as he only cares about making money no matter what side he’s on. It’s spring as one of Feng’s bounty hunters named Huang Yaoshi (Tony Leung Ka-Fai) has arrived for his yearly visit but with a bottle of wine this time. Yaoshi talks about a woman (Carina Lau) he’s fallen for as he learns he’s the wife another bounty hunter (Tony Leung Chiu-Wai). Yet, Yaoshi is in trouble with that bounty hunter as he was an old friend. The problem is that Yaoshi is losing his memory while the other bounty hunter is going blind.

Returning to his home, Yaoshi has an encounter with a drunk yet masterful swordsman named Murong (Brigitte Lin) as a fight ensues. Later, Murong hires Feng to have someone kill the man going after her sister. Feng meanwhile, gets an offer from Murong’s sister to kill her brother as Feng realizes that something isn‘t right as he believes they could be the same person. It’s summer as a young woman (Charlie Yeung) offers her mule and eggs to Feng to find a bounty hunter to fight off some bandits. Feng refuses the offer as the blind swordsman arrives to talk about Yaoshi as he is thinking of taking the young woman’s offer to fight off the bandits.

Yet, the bandits continue to become a threat as another bounty hunter named Hong Quiong (Jacky Cheung) decides to fight them. While he’s a man known for simple things and has a way of handling business. Something is off as Hong gets himself injured as Feng believes that the woman with the eggs and mule is a curse. Hong however, thinks the opposite as he decides to leave with his wife (Li Bai) as Feng becomes haunted by the memories of his former flame (Maggie Cheung) who had already married his brother. Feng meanwhile learns why Yaoshi has come to the desert every year as he waits for the next spring for Yaoshi to arrive.

While the film’s complex story takes place in the span of a year, its loose structure in placing the film on its seasonal settings gives way to an epic that isn’t like anything else. While at times, the pacing lags a bit in a few scenes. It’s a film that is really about a man whose lack of morals about hiring bounty hunters to do their jobs would only have him face his own regrets and mistakes that he’s made in the past. A lot of the story is told from Feng’s perspective in the narration as he reflects on his own past and hopes of attaining glory while looking on at his bounty hunters. Each have their own story to tell through a bit of their own narration as they all deal with their own issues and moral conflict.

The looseness of the story is attributed to Kar-Wai not using a script as his direction of the film is truly mesmerizing. Particularly shooting on location at the desert where he goes for a huge, epic feel. Kar-Wai definitely displays grand visuals for many of the film’s deserts and battle scenes with help from Sammo Hung’s choreography in the fights. Yet, he maintains a sense of intimacy for some of the non-action, dramatic scenes while creating gorgeous shots filled with landscapes being exploded along with a shot of water gushing from a lake. In many ways, it’s a dream-like film of sorts with lush images of water and landscapes set in a rough desert. Yet, it has all of the touches of a Kar-Wai film where despite a few flaws in the story.

Longtime Kar-Wai collaborator Christopher Doyle brings a gorgeous yet hypnotic look to the film’s cinematography. Shot with grainy film stock, Doyle’s photography maintains a gritty look to the film, notably the fight scenes. For the scenes in the jungle, there’s a lush feel with its mesh of green, white, and other colors. A lot of Doyle’s photography plays to a lot of the work he’s done with Kar-Wai as it’s definitely one of the film’s technical highlights.

Another Kar-Wai collaborator in William Chang does a lot of excellent work to the film’s art direction, costume design, and editing. The look of the homes and places that the characters encounter have a decayed film with the exception of the home of Feng’s former lover that is grand yet intimate. The costume design is also exquisite with the ragged robes the men wear and the gorgeous ones that Maggie Cheung wears for her character. In the editing, Chang along with Patrick Tam and Kit-Wai Kai bring a fluid yet mesmerizing editing style that is filled with shimmering speeds for some of the film’s action and dramatic scenes that is a trademark of Kar-Wai’s work. Even as its stylized approach help move the action scenes while the film does a lag a bit in a few places, notably in the first act.

Sound designer Robert MacKenzie and sound editor Nopawat Likitwong do some very good with the film’s sound in creating collages for some of the dramatic action scenes or something intense in more intimate fight scenes. The music of Frankie Chan and Roel A. Garcia (with additional music and re-arrangements by Wu Tong in the Redux version) is wonderful for its bombastic pieces for some of the film’s action scenes along with more soothing pieces that includes some cello solos from Yo-Yo Ma (in the Redux version) for the closing pieces of the film.

The cast is definitely phenomenal with a small appearance from Li Bai as Hong Quiong’s wife along with Maggie Cheung in a small but pivotal appearance as Feng’s ex-love as she brings a radiance that isn’t seen much on film. Carina Lau is very good as the wife of the blind swordsman who becomes the object of affection for Yaoshi. Brigitte Lin is excellent in the role of Murong, a woman disguised as a master swordsman who is intent on seeking war against her sister’s lover. Jacky Cheung is great as Hong Quiong, a master swordsman with simple ideals as his encounter with a young woman makes him re-think about the ways of being a bounty hunter.

Charlie Yeung is wonderful as the young woman who tries to make an offer to Feng with just a basket full of eggs and a mule as she ends up playing a major role in affecting the lives of the bounty hunters. Tony Leung Ka-Fai is brilliant as Yaoshi, a bounty hunter who meets Feng yearly as he is dealing with own issues while losing his memory as he carries a secret that would later impact Feng. Tony Leung Chiu-Wai is superb as the blind swordsman who is dealing with his sudden blindness as well as the appearance of the young woman who asks for help.

Finally, there’s the late Leslie Cheung as Ouyang Feng. A middleman between the bounty hunters and its customers who is trying to deal with regrets and other issues while maintain his role as an outsider. Cheung’s performance is definitely marvelous to watch as a man who is filled with snide cynicism about the ways of the world as he tries to hide his own past. Even in the way he’s restrained throughout while showing that he can be a badass in the few fight scenes he has. It’s definitely one of Cheung’s finest roles of his great career.

(Note: The Following 3 Paragraphs is a compare/contrast about the original Ashes of Time and its Redux version)

In the original Ashes of Time, the film opens with a intense, fast-paced battle scene where Feng fights a bunch of bandits in an epic, sprawling battle that is meant to introduce him. That sequence is cut from the Redux version along with details about Yaoshi that is spoken though the subtitles are improved in the Redux. Also cut are little details and introduction as the material is added in the Redux are the breaks for the seasons as well as additional scenes that are essentially second unit shots of water and skies.

Since the original version (that can be found online) is in such bad condition, the cinematography is brighter and much rougher while the pacing in the original is a bit more ragged where it lags the story more than in the Redux. Other things that the Redux does in order to bring a better visual feel to the film are the visual effects. The BUF visual effects team add a few things to the film including a scene of flies flying up from a lake.

Another major sequence that is cut from the original is another battle scene at the end of the film involving Feng, Murong, Hong Quong, and Yaoshi that is as intense and stylized. It’s understandable why Kar-Wai cut some of the sequences not only to improve the pacing of the film but also clarify things in the story. Another notable thing that is prevalent in the original that was forced to be re-done for the Redux version is the score by Frankie Chan and Roel A. Garcia that is more dramatic in the original. While the score in the original is slightly better than the one in the Redux, the Redux version is a better film in terms of visuals and in storytelling despite the plot’s complexity.

The 2009 Region 1 DVD from Sony Pictures Classics presents Ashes of Time Redux in its theatrical anamorphic widescreen aspect ratio of 1:78:1 with Dolby Digital for Cantonese and 5.1 for French with English subtitles. Among the special features that appears in the DVD is a 42-minute Q&A with Wong Kar-Wai held by The Village Voice film critic J. Hoberman. The interview has Kar-Wai talk about the production and why it took five years to restore, re-cut, and re-do Ashes of Time.

Kar-Wai revealed that because of the economic crisis in Asia in the late 1990s, the warehouse that stored all of the negative prints of his films and many others were to be destroyed. Kar-Wai managed to save his films as did many others where he found that the negative of Ashes of Time was in very bad shape. Thanks to copies that circulated in France and other places, Kar-Wai and his team were able to do work on the restoration which proved to be tough. Even as he told Hoberman about having to make some changes in order to improve things though he knew that not everyone would like it though the original version of the film remains in bad shape. Even as they had to remix and re-do some sound and dialogue (some of which proved to be very difficult due to Leslie Cheung’s suicide in 2003).

Kar-Wai also talked about his collaboration with William Chang and Christopher Doyle. The latter of which, he reveals about Doyle’s personality and how he takes his work seriously as a cinematographer. Even as they often have clashes, notably in In the Mood for Love as Kar-Wai didn’t want hand-held and Doyle did. Kar-Wai also talks about his approach to writing as he does write screenplays but he only uses it as a guide into what he wants since he finds the film when shooting.

The 14-minute Born From Ashes: The Making of Ashes of Time Redux is a special that features rare behind-the-scenes footage of the making of the original film. Featuring interviews with Wong Kar-Wai, Tony Leung Chiu-Wai, Charlie Yeung, Carina Lau, Sammo Hung, and Christopher Doyle. The actors talked about making the film and revealed how difficult it was in just shooting there while Hung talked about how Kar-Wai was able to do something different from the typical martial arts films that were being made at the time. Even as everyone (with the exception of Hung) is interviewed at the 2008 Cannes Film Festival where they’re promoting Ashes of Time Redux as they talked about how great it is to have the film finally come out at Cannes to an audience that wants to see it.

The trailer for Ashes of Time Redux appears in the DVD along with trailers for films like Synecdoche, New York, Rachel Getting Married, Adoration, Kung Fu Hustle, and Waltz with Bashir. It’s definitely a DVD that fans of Kar-Wai must have in their collection.

Ashes of Time/Ashes of Time Redux is an excellent yet spectacular film from Wong Kar-Wai featuring a great ensemble led by the late Leslie Cheung. Fans of Kar-Wai will no doubt want to see this though they will probably be dismayed by the changes Kar-Wai made for this new version. Audiences new to Kar-Wai should see other films like In the Mood for Love and Chungking Express before seeing this one. Notably the Redux version which is more preferred due to its remastered look and a clearer plot. In the end, Ashes of Time/Ashes of Time Redux is a marvelous yet stylish film from Wong Kar-Wai and company.

Wong Kar-Wai Films: As Tears Go By - Days of Being Wild - Chungking Express - Fallen Angels - Happy Together - In the Mood for Love - 2046 - Eros-The Hand - My Blueberry Nights - The Grandmaster - The Auteurs #28: Wong Kar-Wai

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