The harder you try to forget something, the more it will stick in your memory.
-Ou-yang Feng

*Note: I watched Ashes of Time Redux and I'm unaware of what the differences are from the 1994 version.*

A surreal and beautiful film with an oddly constructed narrative. This is actually my first time viewing a film by Kar Wai Wong so I have no idea if this is a dominating style of most of his films, or if this was a bit of an experiment on his part. Either way the movie is stunning to watch.

The movie has several intertwining storylines that at first seem only connected by one man. At the end of the film however you realize how…

A powerful meditation on time and memory, Ashes of Time Redux takes all the central ideas of epic filmmaking and transforms it into his own blend of magic and mystery. I was a little worried that this film would suffer under the weight of it's own ideas, but I needn't have worried. Wong Kar-Wai delivers a stunning work.

This is his only real historical piece, unless you count setting something a few decades ago in the sixties, which I don't. That part alone had me a little trepidatious going in, but really, like I said, I shouldn't haven given in a thought.

THe further this one carried on, the deeper I sank into it's world. I have the feeling that…

Plot: ''The film is set in five parts, five seasons that are part of the Chinese almanac. The story takes place in the jianghu, the world of the martial arts. Ouyang Feng has lived in the western desert for some years. He left his home in White Camel Mountain when the woman he loved chose to marry his elder brother rather than him. Instead of seeking glory, he ends up as an agent. When people come to him with a wish to eliminate someone who has wronged them, he puts them in touch with a swordsman who can do the job.''

So as fate would have it, this was my introduction to Wong Kar-wai. I didn't like it. The plot…

Clunky, overdone, and indulgent. There is none of the subtle development of emotions I've become accustomed to in other Wong Kar-Wai films. Everything, every shitty part of the message and story they repeat over and over again is put right there in your face and ears. There's just a bunch of semi-intelligible bullshit, in an a narrative that makes absolutely no sense, wrapped up in a distracting and awkward visual style. Wong Kar-Wai's favorite techniques of slow motion, blurred images, quick cuts, and oversaturated colors work wonders in atmospheric love stories, but an epic "wu xia" film doesn’t need all of those embellishments. Ashes of Time tries to be beautiful and poignant but just ends up being endlessly annoying.

I…

Amazing piece of film.

Ashes of Time Redux is, at least apparently, a homage to "wu xia" films. Those films and books about martial arts from China, specially from the 60's and 70's, but it is, in fact, another powerful drama from this incredible director.

I'm saying "apparently", but there is no reason to say that this is not a homage. The mysterious characters, their martial virtuose, these empty spaces, the blood, all those things are here but rather as a background for a love story where memory is the main theme.

The protagonist receives a bottle of a magic wine, capable of destroy one memories. According his friend, "memories are the root of our problems". The development of this…

This review is about Ashes of Time Redux (2008)

This was the last film by Wong Kar-wai I hadn't seen yet, and it's one I've been pondering since I finished watching it.

At first I was very confused by the plot, since it's not presented linearly and it also seems to skip some steps in between events, so I had a constant feeling of having missed something.

Towards the end though, I realized I was missing something else: the sheer visual beauty as well as the poetic feel of the words and performances. I had to let go of trying to figure out the plot, and instead soak in the mood and emotions the film evokes. Once I did that…

Plot: ''The film is set in five parts, five seasons that are part of the Chinese almanac. The story takes place in the jianghu, the world of the martial arts. Ouyang Feng has lived in the western desert for some years. He left his home in White Camel Mountain when the woman he loved chose to marry his elder brother rather than him. Instead of seeking glory, he ends up as an agent. When people come to him with a wish to eliminate someone who has wronged them, he puts them in touch with a swordsman who can do the job.''

So as fate would have it, this was my introduction to Wong Kar-wai. I didn't like it. The plot…

A powerful meditation on time and memory, Ashes of Time Redux takes all the central ideas of epic filmmaking and transforms it into his own blend of magic and mystery. I was a little worried that this film would suffer under the weight of it's own ideas, but I needn't have worried. Wong Kar-Wai delivers a stunning work.

This is his only real historical piece, unless you count setting something a few decades ago in the sixties, which I don't. That part alone had me a little trepidatious going in, but really, like I said, I shouldn't haven given in a thought.

THe further this one carried on, the deeper I sank into it's world. I have the feeling that…

Clunky, overdone, and indulgent. There is none of the subtle development of emotions I've become accustomed to in other Wong Kar-Wai films. Everything, every shitty part of the message and story they repeat over and over again is put right there in your face and ears. There's just a bunch of semi-intelligible bullshit, in an a narrative that makes absolutely no sense, wrapped up in a distracting and awkward visual style. Wong Kar-Wai's favorite techniques of slow motion, blurred images, quick cuts, and oversaturated colors work wonders in atmospheric love stories, but an epic "wu xia" film doesn’t need all of those embellishments. Ashes of Time tries to be beautiful and poignant but just ends up being endlessly annoying.

I…