About Wong Kar-wai's movie Ashes of Time?

Ashes of Time is an anomaly in a new martial arts movie. It takes the martial arts as the shell, but it describes the emotion, confusion, alienation and alienation of modern people.

As a new martial arts film, Time Has Changed borrows and reshapes an important figure who has always been regarded as a "collective myth" in Jin Yong's works, and reconstructs his own unique martial arts world with the previous mode. Although there are martial arts, chivalrous men, righteous acts and grudges, the structure, theme, narrative style and expression content of the whole film are very different from those of ordinary martial arts movies. The film "Oriental" continues Wong Kar-wai's methods of high-speed photography and picture editing of martial arts in his previous urban works, which not only emphasizes the magic of action in an unusual "fuzzy" way, but also strengthens the visual impact. This "non-linear" editing effect is different from the general special effects, but it also plays a similar role.

The film "East" has a strong sense of form. Although Du Kefeng is a foreigner, he has made great achievements in creating the artistic conception of oriental aesthetics, and his photography effect is also the best among the new martial arts films that have always emphasized the picture, which is likely to surpass and surpass Stella. Many subtle treatments of light and shadow, and the hints of light and shadow effects on stories and characters' psychology are far beyond the reach of other new martial arts film photographers. Most of the exquisite pictures of the new martial arts films are only single-level "pictures" for appreciation, at most, they only render the atmosphere and create the environment, while the photography of "East" has been completely integrated into the whole work, so it is judged by the level.

Of course, the most important thing is the content or theme of the film. Loyalty to the monarch, revenge and dominating the Wulin in traditional martial arts movies have developed into a more complex mixture of various elements, but in the film East, almost all these traditional themes no longer exist. From some signs, the film "East" can be regarded as a discussion and reinterpretation of Jianghu and chivalrous people, and the film adopts the form of "prequel" itself with the intention of tracing back to the source. Everyone enters the Jianghu for various reasons, mostly because of love, which is the characteristic and symbol of Wang Jianghu. At the same time, these acts of love are also exclusive forms with the label of king-rejection and rejection. Under the cover of martial arts and Jin Yong's banner, Jianghu children have also become self-pitying white-collar workers in modern cities, playing confused love games in hiding.

Time has changed, which has opened up a new road for martial arts films, but this not so narrow road has been taken by few people, but it has made another "alternative new martial arts" and "going east and going west" take advantage of it.

Ouyang Feng ran away from home on his brother's wedding day because his sister-in-law was his favorite woman. He lives in seclusion in a desert town and runs a hotel, which is designed to meet passers-by and find killers for others.

Huang, a romantic swordsman, is a good friend of Ouyang Feng, and meets Ouyang Feng for drinking once a year. He is infatuated with his best friend's wife, Peach Blossom, and secretly loves Ouyang Feng's sister-in-law.

The blind warrior is Peach Blossom's husband and one of Ouyang Feng's killers. He wandered around the world, hoping to see his wife again before he went blind. Under the command of Ouyang Feng, he fought against hundreds of horse thieves alone and was finally killed by the horse thieves. Peach Blossom left Huang forever after her husband left, but she didn't expect to hear the news of her husband's death the next year. For the sake of his beloved woman, Huang drank the wine called "Let Life Drunk" and forgot everything but peach blossoms.

Murong Yan and Murong Yan are identical brothers and sisters. Murong Yan paid a large sum of money for Ouyang Feng to kill Huang Shiyou, and Murong Yan also asked Ouyang Feng to kill Murong Yan. Actually, they are the same person.

The village girl wanted to hire a killer to avenge her brother, but Ouyang Feng resolutely refused. Newcomer Hong Qi is a swordsman who can't even afford sandals. He agreed to the request of the village girl, killed all the swordsmen of Qiu's family alone, and lost his right index finger. His reward is only an egg of the village girl.

Ouyang Feng's sister-in-law deliberately married his brother because she couldn't stand his pride. Now, she is dying, and she finally realizes: I thought I won, but I lost.

In the end, Huang lived in seclusion in Taohua Island, nicknamed East Evil. Hong Qi took over the beggars' sect in the north. Murong Yan/Murong Yan changed his face and became a generation of chivalrous men. Ouyang Feng burned down the shop and returned to his hometown, known as Du.

Ashes of Time is not as free and decadent as Wang's other works, and even a little ethereal, like a prediction of urban life now! But the "East" film is like a complex handicraft with exquisite craftsmanship and originality, which can be passed down from generation to generation. Away from the scene of the city going deep into the desert, it still reveals the unique indifference, loneliness and alienation! In emotional description, it is more complicated and delicate than previous works; In addition to providing a space for thinking, it also tells us a real answer to solve emotional problems through the relationship between characters and philosophical dialogue!

When I have nothing to do, I will visit white camel mountain. I clearly remember a woman waiting for me there. In fact, "living a drunken life" is just a joke she played with me. The more you want to know whether you have forgotten, the clearer you remember. It has been said that when you can't have what you have anymore, the only thing you can do is not to forget.

Film Review 2: Ashes of Time

The English title "Ashes of Time" shows that this is a complete story about time. Nominally, it is the "prehistory" of beggars in "Time has passed, but it is not adapted from" The Legend of the Condor Heroes ",and it is not a formal martial arts movie. This pure fiction "The Legend of the Condor Heroes" is a double review of official history.

● The first sentence at the beginning (Leslie Cheung, West Poison Ouyang Feng's Inner Monologue) is based on the magical realism tone of One Hundred Years of Solitude: "Many years later ..." Time has no absolute meaning here, and it cannot be marked with an accurate scale ("1April, 960 16, before 3 pm", only relative coordinates (. Stripped of the background of the times, the characters wore clothes that did not belong to any particular dynasty (abstract medieval? ) clothing, talk about modern (post-modern? ) language. Correspondingly, the arrangement of space also presents abstract characteristics: all events in the present tense occur in the desert with unclear geographical location; The specific places ("white camel mountain" and "outside Gusu City") only belong to the distant past tense, like on another planet.

● The scale that can calibrate the tense is the emotional change of the characters. Emotional entanglements in the past tense have deeply influenced thoughts and behaviors in the present tense. This kind of emotional entanglement can be described as complicated: A loves B, and B cannot love A; C who secretly loves B falls in love with D, which leads to E's lovelorn; F is self-loving, narcissistic and self-blaming because he can't get the love of C; G let A see the shadow of B, and E saw the shadow of D; F imagines A as C, and A imagines F as B. ...

The network structure determines the non-linear narrative mode: Du, as the central figure and the "agent" of chivalrous people, represents the present tense. Starting from him, he continued to centrifuge and pulled out the interwoven network of past tenses. The energy needed to stimulate the time transition always comes from the inner monologue of the voiceover. This simple and effective method fills the time gap caused by flashback, which is Wong Kar-wai's unique skill.

In the past, men and women lived in an unsatisfied sex world: betrayal, jealousy, abandonment and forgetting. ...

● In the present tense, life is simplified as a ritual waiting: expecting to kill people, earning money and even waiting for death. Let's see how they can get rid of the shadow of history and overcome the lust of evil forces: exile (Leslie Cheung, abandoning white camel mountain, heading for the desert), forgetting (Tony Leung Ka Fai, drinking the wine of "drunken life and dreaming of death") and death (Tony Leung Chiu Wai, with the same ending as Leslie Cheung in The True Story of Teddy Boy). Brigitte Lin is more complicated, from the split personality (Murong Yan and Murong Yan's ego) to the combination of Yin and Yang (lonely seeking defeat). Jacky Cheung escaped the tragic fate, on the one hand, because she was simple-minded, and on the other hand, because she ate Yang Caini's egg-others only saw the past (lover) in her, but did not understand the meaning of the future (egg).

● Time is the biggest winner. Maggie Cheung's death symbolizes the complete passing of love and beauty, and it is also an opportunity for the future to finally come. Death once again becomes the intersection of time and space. From lust to Wukong, the chivalrous men who have achieved positive results have returned to their hometown and entered the game realm of no love, no hate and no mercy.

● For Du Kefeng, Ashes of Time is an exception: there are basically no indoor scenery and lighting. He often shoots location with wide-angle lens, and the angle is often steep. The rhythm is sometimes slow and sometimes fast, which multiplies the sense of instability in space. Under natural light, the shadows of wind and smoke, the reflection of water and the dynamic projection formed by rotating bamboo baskets have produced the effect that only lighting can achieve in general. The most primitive technique is MTV-style animation jump clip-incoherent picture, which perfectly shows the loss of time.

~ ~ July 27, 200813: 21report

The ashes of time) 1994 screenwriter and director: Wong Kar-wai/Leslie Cheung, Tony Leung Ka Fai, Tony Leung Chiu Wai, Jacky Cheung, Maggie Cheung, Carina Lau, Brigitte Lin and Yang Caini.

Plot:

Ouyang Feng (Leslie Cheung) runs away from home on his brother's wedding day, because his sister-in-law (Maggie Cheung) is his favorite woman. He lives in seclusion in a desert town and runs a hotel, which is designed to meet passers-by and find killers for others.

Huang (Tony Leung Ka Fai), a romantic swordsman, is a good friend of Ouyang Feng and has a drink with Ouyang Feng every year. He has a crush on his best friend's wife Taohua (Carina Lau) and Ouyang Feng's sister-in-law.

The blind soldier (Tony Leung Chiu Wai) is Taohua's husband and one of Ouyang Feng's killers. He wandered around the world, hoping to see his wife again before he went blind. Under the command of Ouyang Feng, he fought against hundreds of horse thieves alone and was finally killed by the horse thieves.

After learning of her husband's death, Peach Blossom left Huang forever. For the sake of his beloved woman, Huang drank the wine called "Let Life Drunk" and forgot everything.

Murong Yan and Murong Yan are identical brothers and sisters. Murong Yan paid a large sum of money for Ouyang Feng to kill Huang Shiyou, and Murong Yan also asked Ouyang Feng to kill Murong Yan. Actually, they are the same person.

The village girl (Yang Caini) wants to hire a killer to avenge her brother, but Ouyang Feng resolutely refuses. Hong Qi (Jacky Cheung), a newcomer to the Jianghu, is a swordsman who can't even afford sandals. He agreed to the request of the village girl, killed all the swordsmen of Qiu's family alone, and lost his right index finger. His reward is only an egg of the village girl.

Ouyang Feng's sister-in-law deliberately married his brother because she couldn't stand his pride. Now, she is dying, and she finally realizes: I thought I won, but I lost.

In the end, Huang lived in seclusion in Taohua Island, nicknamed East Evil. Hong Qi took over the beggars' sect in the north. Murong Yan/Murong Yan changed his face and became a generation of chivalrous men. Ouyang Feng burned down the shop and returned to his hometown, known as Du.

Comments:

It opened a precedent for exploring martial arts films in an alternative way. But its style is not accepted by most people! His achievements are far behind his other works!