Film Review 1:
"Ashes of Time" is an anomaly among the new martial arts movies. It uses martial arts as a shell, but it describes the emotions, confusion, and confusion of modern people. Alienation, and alienation.
As a new martial arts film, "Ashes of Time" borrows and reshapes important characters from Jin Yong's works that have been regarded as "collective myths", and reconstructs itself in the form of a prequel. A unique world of martial arts. Although there are martial arts, knights, righteous deeds, and love and hatred, the structure, theme, narrative method, and expression content of the entire film are very different from ordinary martial arts movies. In terms of martial arts, "East" continues the high-speed photography and spot editing method explored by Wong Kar-wai in his previous urban works. It not only emphasizes the magic of the action in an unusual "blurred" way, but also strengthens the visual effect. impact. This "non-line" editing effect is different from stunts in the general sense, but it also plays a similar role.
The pictures in "East" have a strong sense of formality. Although Du Kefeng is a foreigner, he is quite accomplished in creating oriental aesthetics. His photography effects are considered among the new martial arts movies that originally emphasize pictures. The most outstanding one is almost catching up with Italian Straro. The subtle processing of many lights and shadows, and the implications of light and shadow effects on the story and the psychology of the characters, are far beyond what other new martial arts cinematographers can match. The sophisticated images of most new martial arts movies are just single-level "images" that can be appreciated. At best, they are just exaggerating the atmosphere and creating an environment. However, the photography of "East" has been fully integrated into the entire work and is integrated. So a judgment was made.
Of course, the most important thing is the content, or theme, of the film. The traditional martial arts films of loyalty to the emperor, revenge, and martial arts dominance have evolved into new martial arts films and have become a more complex mixture of various elements. In the "Eastern" films, almost all of these traditional themes no longer exist. To a certain extent, the "East" film can be seen as a discussion and reinterpretation of Jianghu and knights. The film's use of the form of "prequel" itself has the intention of tracing the roots. Everyone enters the Jianghu for various reasons, mostly because of love, which is the characteristic and symbol of Wang's Jianghu. At the same time, these love behaviors themselves are also exclusive forms with Wang's label - rejection and rejection. Under the cover of martial arts and Jin Yong's banner, the children of Jianghu have become the self-pitying white-collar workers in modern cities, playing a confused love game while advancing and retreating in secret.
"Ashes of Time" opened up a new path for martial arts films, but this not-so-narrow road has so far been sparsely traveled, but it has made another "alternative new martial arts film" "The East Becomes the West" a new path. Just took advantage of the loophole.
Ouyang Feng ran away from home on the day of his brother's wedding because his sister-in-law was his favorite woman. He lives in seclusion in a desert town and runs a hotel to meet passers-by. He also has a business of finding killers for others.
The romantic swordsman Huang Yaoshi is Ouyang Feng’s good friend, and he and Feng have a drink together once a year. He is obsessed with his best friend's wife Tao Hua, and also has a crush on Ouyang Feng's sister-in-law.
The blind warrior is Taohua’s husband and a killer under Ouyang Feng. He wanders around the world and only wants to see his wife again before he loses his sight. Under Ouyang Feng's orders, he fought hundreds of horse thieves alone, and was eventually killed by the horse thieves. After her husband left, Taohua also left Huang Yaoshi forever, but she never expected that the next year, she would receive the news of her husband's death. Huang Yaoshi drank the wine called "Drunk Life, Dreams and Death" for the woman he loved, and forgot everything except the peach blossoms.
Murong Yan and Murong Yan are brothers and sisters with the same appearance. Murong Yan paid a lot of money to ask Ouyang Feng to kill Huang Yaoshi, and Murong Yan also asked Ouyang Feng to kill Murong Yan. In fact, they are the same person.
The village girl wanted to hire a killer to avenge her brother, but Ouyang Feng firmly refused. Hong Qi, who is new to the world, is a swordsman who can't even afford straw sandals. He agreed to the village girl's request and killed all the swordsmen in the Taiwei Mansion alone, and also lost his right index finger. His reward was just an egg from the village girl.
Ouyang Feng's sister-in-law deliberately married his brother because she couldn't bear his pride. Now, her time has passed and she is about to die soon. She finally realized: I thought I won, but in fact I lost.
In the end, Huang Yaoshi lived in seclusion on Peach Blossom Island, nicknamed Dongxie. Hong Qi took over the Beggar Gang as the Northern Beggar. Murong Yan/Murong Yan changed her appearance and became a swordsman of a generation. Ouyang Feng burned down the shop and returned to his hometown, known as Xidu.
Although "Ashes of Time" is not as free and decadent as Wang's other works, it is even a bit ethereal, like a prophecy of today's urban life! But "Eastern" films are like complex handicrafts that are carefully crafted and crafted and can be handed down from generation to generation; scenes far away from the city and deep into the desert still reveal that unique feeling of indifference, loneliness and alienation! The emotional depiction is meticulous and more complex and delicate than previous works. In addition to providing a space for thinking, it also tells us how to solve emotional problems through the correlation between the characters in the play and philosophical dialogues. Questions that are real and truly faced with answers!
●When I have nothing to do, I will look at Baituo Mountain. I clearly remember that there was a woman waiting for me there. In fact, "being drunk and dreaming of death" is just a joke she played on me. The more you wonder if you have forgotten, the more you remember it clearly. I once heard someone say that when you can no longer have it, the only thing you can do is to make yourself not forget it.
Movie Review 2: The Ashes of Time
●The English title is "The Ashes of Time", which shows that this is a story about time through and through. Nominally it is the "prehistory" of Ashes of Time, but it is neither adapted from "The Prequel of the Condor Heroes" nor is it like a regular martial arts movie. This purely fabricated "Prequel to the Condor Heroes" is a double retrospective of official history.
●The first line of the opening line (Leslie Cheung's inner monologue as Ouyang Feng's Western Poison) uses a "One Hundred Years of Solitude"-style magical realism tone: "Many years later..." Time is no longer absolute here The meaning cannot be marked with a precise scale like "Days of Wild" ("One minute before three o'clock in the afternoon on April 16, 1960"), only relative coordinates (past tense, present tense, future tense) . Stripped of the chronological background, the characters wear clothes that do not belong to any specific dynasty (abstract medieval?) and speak modern (postmodern?) language. Correspondingly, the spatial arrangement also exhibits abstract characteristics: all events in the present tense occur in a desert with no defined geographical location; specific locations ("White Camel Mountain", "Outside Gusu City") only belong to the distant past. tense, like being on another planet.
●The scale that can calibrate the tense is the emotional changes of the characters. Emotional entanglements that occurred in the past have profoundly affected thoughts and behaviors in the present. This emotional entanglement can be described as numerous and complicated: A loves B, but B cannot love A; C, who has a crush on B, falls in love with D, causing E to fall out of love; F becomes narcissistic and self-pitying because he cannot get C's love. Hate; G makes A see the shadow of B, and makes E see the shadow of D; F fantasizes A into C, and A fantasizes F into B...
●The relationship between the network structure determines the non- Linear narrative method: Xidu, as the central character and the agent and "agent" of all the knights, represents the present tense. Starting from him, we continue to separate and draw out the intricate network of the past tense. The energy needed to stimulate tense transitions always comes from the voice-over's inner monologue. This simple and effective method fills the time gap caused by flashbacks and is Wong Kar-wai's unique skill.
●In the past tense, men and women living in a world of unsatisfied desires: betrayal, jealousy, abandonment, forgetfulness...
●In the present tense, life is simplified It is a ritualized waiting: looking forward to killing someone, looking forward to making money, or even waiting to die. Let’s see how they get rid of the shadow of history and overcome the demonic obstacles of lust: exile (Leslie Cheung, abandoning the White Camel Mountain and rushing to the desert), forgetfulness (Tony Leung Ka-fai, drinking the "Drunk Life, Dreaming of Death" wine), death (Tony Leung Chiu-wai, and "Days of Wild") Leslie Cheung has the same ending). Lin Qingxia is more complex, sublimating from split personality (Murong Yan and Murong Yan's two identities) to yin and yang becoming one (Dugu Qiubai). The reason why Jacky Cheung escaped the tragic fate was partly because of his simple mind, and partly because he ate Yang Caini's eggs - others only saw the past (lover) in her and failed to understand the meaning of the future (eggs).
●Time is the biggest winner. Maggie Cheung's death symbolizes the complete passing of love and beauty, and is also the opportunity for the future tense to finally come. Death once again becomes the intersection of time and space. The knights who have achieved Zhengguo from the lust of Wukong return to their hometown and enter the realm of games without love, hatred, ruthlessness and righteousness.
●For Du Kefeng, "Ashes of Time" is an exception: there are basically no interior scenes and lighting. He mostly uses wide-angle lenses to shoot exterior scenes, often at very slanted and steep angles. The rhythm is sometimes sluggish and sometimes fast, doubling the sense of instability in the space.
Under natural light, the dynamic projection formed by the shadows of wind, smoke, clouds, water reflections, and rotating bamboo baskets produces effects that can only be achieved by light under normal circumstances. The most original technique is the MTV-style animation jump editing - the discontinuous images perfectly represent the loss of time.
~~~ 2008-07-27 13:21 Report
"Ashes Of Time" 1994 Written and directed by Wong Kar-Wai/Leslie Cheung, Tony Leung Ka-fai, Tony Leung Chiu-wai, Jacky Cheung , Maggie Cheung, Carina Lau, Brigitte Lin, Yang Caini
Plot:
Ouyang Feng (Leslie Cheung) ran away from home on the day of his brother's wedding because his sister-in-law (Maggie Cheung) is his favorite woman. He lives in seclusion in a desert town and runs a hotel to meet passers-by. He also has a business of finding killers for others.
The romantic swordsman Huang Yaoshi (Tony Leung Ka-fai) is Ouyang Feng's good friend, and he has a drink with Feng once a year. He is obsessed with his best friend's wife Tao Hua (Carina Lau) and also has a crush on Ouyang Feng's sister-in-law.
The Blind Warrior (Tony Leung) is Tao Hua’s husband and a killer under Ouyang Feng. He wanders around the world and only wants to see his wife again before he loses his sight. Under Ouyang Feng's orders, he fought hundreds of horse thieves alone, and was eventually killed by the horse thieves.
After Taohua learned the news of her husband's death, she left Huang Yaoshi forever. Huang Yaoshi drank the wine called "Drunk Life, Dreams and Death" for the woman he loved, and forgot everything.
Murong Yan and Murong Yan are brothers and sisters with the same appearance. Murong Yan paid a lot of money to ask Ouyang Feng to kill Huang Yaoshi, and Murong Yan also asked Ouyang Feng to kill Murong Yan. In fact, they are the same person.
The village girl (Yang Caini) wanted to hire a killer to avenge her brother, but Ouyang Feng firmly refused. Hong Qi (Jacky Cheung), who is new to the world, is a swordsman who can't even afford straw sandals. He agreed to the village girl's request and killed all the swordsmen in the Taiwei Mansion alone, and also lost his right index finger. His reward was just an egg from the village girl.
Ouyang Feng's sister-in-law deliberately married his brother because she couldn't bear his pride. Now, her time has passed and she is about to die soon. She finally realized: I thought I won, but in fact I lost.
In the end, Huang Yaoshi lived in seclusion on Peach Blossom Island, nicknamed Dongxie. Hong Qi took over the Beggar Gang as the Northern Beggar. Murong Yan/Murong Yan changed her appearance and became a swordsman of a generation. Ouyang Feng burned down the shop and returned to his hometown, known as Xidu.
Comments:
It is the first of its kind to explore martial arts films. But its style is not accepted by most people! Its achievements are far inferior to his other works!