Ashes of Time

A brilliant Wuxia martial arts film that (I dare say) is better than "Couching Tiger, Hidden Dragon". A true Wuxia cinematic gem in Hong Kong films.

Ashes of Time is base on the story characters in the most renowned martial arts writing in China: Jin Yong. In fact pretty much all the good TVB martial arts series is from this guy. Anyhow, the story takes place quite a few years before the Condor Shooting Heroes universe. When the four super martial arts giants met and befriend each other in an inn run by Leslie Cheung.

The filled is filled with the biggest names of its day. Leslie Cheung Kwok-Wing, Maggie Cheung Man-Yuk, Tony Leung Chiu-Wai, Tony Leung Ka-Fai, Brigitte Lin Ching-Hsia, Carina Lau Ka-Ling, Jacky Cheung Hok-Yau, and Charlie Young Choi-Nei. But even with such a strong cast, it did horribly at the box-office, which is a shame because this movie is very deep and beautiful.

Leslie is an inn-owner in the desert after he found out that the woman he loved married his older brother. Leslie is not simply just an inn-owner, he is a hired assassin who kills to "take problems away." However, he lived an interesting life to say the least when expecting guest visits him and each of them as a touching story. It seems as though all of their lives interrelate with each other in some way. Some very subtle, some very hidden, but all quite memorable.

I really didn't believe that it was possible to make an art film in martial arts settings, but Wong Kar-Wai, that frinkin genius, has done it. The film IS a work of breathtaking art with beautiful play of shadow and light, memorizing camera work, and blur-like action scenes that fits the mood of the film flawlessly. He is able to give a genre that is all about heroism some sort of emotional focal point and redefine the formula that focus on memories as the biggest demons in heroes instead of actual fights. I would however prefer all the male characters to look cleaner because all of them looks like hobos... dirty and unclean... or maybe it was just the most truthful because candy-pop martial arts movie at the time were really not all that real.

The first half an hour is quite boring and confusing, but once it gets rolling, it goes. Maybe "Couching Tiger, Hidden Dragon" has better action scenes and deeper plot, but it doesn't hold a candle against "Ashes of Time's" beautiful art and emotional weight.

Year: 1994
Director: Wong Kar-Wai

9/10