But of course this is fantasy, right? How many directors have a chance to step in the same stream twice? In the case of Wong Kar Wai, Ashes of Time Redux is exactly that dream scenario. Kar Wai explains in the special features included on this DVD that during the economic crises in Asia during the late '90s, he was contacted by the company that stored his work and was told that they were closing their doors. He rushed to get his master copy and found it degraded and unusable. Ashes of Time, released in 1994, was in danger of complete obsolescence apart from some VHS copies and reels delivered to theaters outside of China. Kar Wai took on a massive project to save Ashes of Time by piecing together scraps of the film and canvassing Chinese theaters to find distributed copies. The "redux" version isn't a remake as much as a Director's Cut with a good backstory. Major improvements include cello work from Yo-Yo Ma that did not appear in the original, and some restructuring of the content that clarifies the storyline.
Clarity in a Wong Kar Wai film never seems like the true goal, as fans will know. Showing us something wonderfully complex and nuanced is what we expect from Kar Wai, as in the treatment of love and loss in In the Mood for Love, my introduction to his work back in 2001. The passion and distance between characters is painted so vividly that you want to reach into the screen and move characters into some resolution, like they were pieces on a chessboard. Ashes of Time Redux mixes the concept of unrequited love with traditional swordplay and gallantry, but fans of fast-paced action movies will find this a strange brew. At the center of the film is a character that claims to represent master swordsmen that he will direct, for a price, toward helping people resolve impossible problems. The reality is that this "middleman," as he calls himself, is a nest of unresolved issues... as are his swordsmen and his customers. Dismay, regret, inaction, poor choices, and misplaced loyalty fill the screen, but we keep watching in the hope that Ashes of Time Redux will end with someone righted.
Resolution is achieved, but in the poignant way that all Kar Wai films end. We recognize ourselves in the plight of these characters, and we see too clearly how their inability to react and do the right thing is more real than the Sleepless in Seattle fantasies we prefer to harbor. In this way, Ashes of Time Redux isn't any kind of feel-good movie, but it's a damn fine piece of work that deserved another look. Kar Wai obviously went back out of fealty to his original vision and the awesome work from people like Tony Leung, Brigitte Lin, and Sammo Hung. It's a good thing he did, because Ashes of Time became the beneficiary of the reflection and added skill that Kar Wai had gained over the years.
