grodscorp@grods.comMIFF ‘08 film review: Ashes Of Time Redux
 | Posted by Scott on Thursday 31 July 2008, 10:41 am Categories: MIFF '08 Tags: Tags: AshesOfTimeRedux, BicyclePumpMan, MIFF |
Film rating: 1/5
Walkouts: 3/5
Pretentious clapping at credits: 0/5
BPM sighting: Yes
In ancient China, a vagabond swordsman earns his living by hiring others as assassins. His heart was long ago hardened by the betrayal of a woman, but his encounters make him reflect on his lost love. Cut together by director Wong Kar-wai from a variety of prints of the original, this is the definitive version of his rarely seen martial arts film. Digitally tweaked and tightened, Ashes of Time Redux remains pure Wong - a visually bold film that centres on unrequited longing and emotional frustration, rather than the sword fights of wuxia cinema. A star-studded cast includes both Tony Leungs, Leslie Cheung and Maggie Cheung, and masterful camera work by Christopher Doyle (Rabbit-Proof Fence).
I arrived about a minute late for the film (thanks a million, Yarra Trams) which always puts me in a shitty mood, and then I got stuck with a shitty seat so I was in an even shittier mood. About twenty minutes into Ashes Of Time Redux I suspected that I was watching a turkey but crossed all my fingers that my first film of MIFF ‘08 would redeem itself.
It didn’t.
Look, the cinematography and visual direction were pretty bloody good, and there were some interesting sequences from a pure filmmaking point of view, but the film just wasn’t very good to watch. The storyline wasn’t engaging — it was quite confusing in places — and the emotional themes were hideously overblown. Put it this way: Bicycle Pump Man walked out! He freakin’ walked out. And in my long relationship with BPM I’ve never known him to walk out of a film. Pretty damning stuff.
