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I saw the original version back in the ’90s while following Tony Leung Chiu-wai’s filmography and it was my first encounter with Wong Kar-wai. I didn’t know who he was at the time nor the fact that this was an insane cast, and although I forgot much of the movie, the lingering feeling it left me with after it ended has stayed with me to this day.
This past month I’ve had the opportunity to revisit WKW’s work, and I came across this 2008 Redux version (edited to correct year), in which the director rearranged certain elements. While watching it, I realized that all the scenes had remained fresh in some dark chamber of my mind, because as they appeared on screen, the memories came flooding back — yet I still couldn’t predict the following scenes. Quite an experience!
Now, with more knowledge of Chinese and Eastern culture in general, I realize this is WKW’s version of how Eastern Heretic, Western Venom, and Northern Beggar came to be, and I have even less doubt than before that Xu Bing is a great admirer of Wong Kar-wai. Having seen the trailer for his upcoming Remnants of Gold, I can clearly see the homage to Ashes of Time.
Another director who, I can tell, has liked Wong Kar-Wai filmography is Yu Xiaochen, the director of Back to the Origin, who must also admire Christopher Doyle’s cinematography, as he worked as a cinematographer himself before making his directorial debut.
And it also turned out that I did know Jacky Cheung from his glorious days — I just didn’t realize it lol.
This past month I’ve had the opportunity to revisit WKW’s work, and I came across this 2008 Redux version (edited to correct year), in which the director rearranged certain elements. While watching it, I realized that all the scenes had remained fresh in some dark chamber of my mind, because as they appeared on screen, the memories came flooding back — yet I still couldn’t predict the following scenes. Quite an experience!
Now, with more knowledge of Chinese and Eastern culture in general, I realize this is WKW’s version of how Eastern Heretic, Western Venom, and Northern Beggar came to be, and I have even less doubt than before that Xu Bing is a great admirer of Wong Kar-wai. Having seen the trailer for his upcoming Remnants of Gold, I can clearly see the homage to Ashes of Time.
Another director who, I can tell, has liked Wong Kar-Wai filmography is Yu Xiaochen, the director of Back to the Origin, who must also admire Christopher Doyle’s cinematography, as he worked as a cinematographer himself before making his directorial debut.
And it also turned out that I did know Jacky Cheung from his glorious days — I just didn’t realize it lol.
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