IMDb RATING
7.0/10
18K
YOUR RATING
A broken-hearted hit man moves to the desert where he finds skilled swordsmen to carry out his contract killings.A broken-hearted hit man moves to the desert where he finds skilled swordsmen to carry out his contract killings.A broken-hearted hit man moves to the desert where he finds skilled swordsmen to carry out his contract killings.
- Awards
- 9 wins & 13 nominations total
Tony Leung Chiu-wai
- Blind Swordsman
- (as Tony Chiu Wai Leung)
Collin Chou
- Swordsman
- (uncredited)
Li Yin
- Rebel swordsman
- (uncredited)
- Director
- Writers
- All cast & crew
- Production, box office & more at IMDbPro
‘Snow White’ Stars Test Their Wits
Storyline
Did you know
- TriviaThis film had an exhausting effect on Wong Kar-Wai. While on hiatus during the editing process he wrote and shot Chungking Express (1994) to "clear his head".
- Quotes
Ou-yang Feng: People say, when you can't have what you want, the best you can do is not to forget.
- Alternate versionsWong Kar-wai revisited the film and created the Redux version which premiered at the Cannes Film Festival 2008. This version has alternative footage and changes in the order of scenes. The Redux version has new opening titles, and the season's fade-ins introducing each chapter are new. It also has a new color-scheme and a new soundtrack. Some scenes from the original version have been deleted, for example the two main character's introduction in the beginning. The overall run time of the Redux version is slightly shorter than the original theatrical version.
- ConnectionsFeatured in Century of Cinema: Naamsaang-neuiseung (1996)
Featured review
Although I enjoy them, I seldom re-watch slow and introspective movies. Ashes of Time is the exception to the rule, as it haunts me so much that I have already given it three viewings! It may be because of the wonderful pictures, the essential yet poignant dialogues or the grave & epic music, nevertheless Ashes of Time is a fascinating movie!
Set in a tavern in the middle of the desert, it tells us stories of different swordsmen and deals with the theme of unrequited love. All the people, in fact, had to face a rejection.. and now strive to find a way to overcome the delusion and go on with their life. Swordsmanship is mostly viewed as an outlet to bring out the inner passions and frustrations.
The protagonist, Ouyang Feng [Leslie Cheung] is one of those swordsmen, who left his lady [Maggie Cheung] and his village to pursue fame and glory, convinced that she would have waited for him to return. Now instead he faces loneliness and the fact that she has married his elder brother.
The most peculiar aspect of the movie is the pictures, so beautifully shot that each still can make a wonderful portrait. Even the battles, rather than being filmed continuously, are rendered as a sequence of separate shots, thus remaining more indelibly impressed in our head. Indeed, the movie also focuses about memory (whom the movie title probably refers to) and its power to keep alive moments of the past, that otherwise would perish in the flow of time. Highly recommended! 9/10
Set in a tavern in the middle of the desert, it tells us stories of different swordsmen and deals with the theme of unrequited love. All the people, in fact, had to face a rejection.. and now strive to find a way to overcome the delusion and go on with their life. Swordsmanship is mostly viewed as an outlet to bring out the inner passions and frustrations.
The protagonist, Ouyang Feng [Leslie Cheung] is one of those swordsmen, who left his lady [Maggie Cheung] and his village to pursue fame and glory, convinced that she would have waited for him to return. Now instead he faces loneliness and the fact that she has married his elder brother.
The most peculiar aspect of the movie is the pictures, so beautifully shot that each still can make a wonderful portrait. Even the battles, rather than being filmed continuously, are rendered as a sequence of separate shots, thus remaining more indelibly impressed in our head. Indeed, the movie also focuses about memory (whom the movie title probably refers to) and its power to keep alive moments of the past, that otherwise would perish in the flow of time. Highly recommended! 9/10
Details
- Release date
- Countries of origin
- Official sites
- Languages
- Also known as
- Ashes of Time
- Filming locations
- Production companies
- See more company credits at IMDbPro
Box office
- Budget
- HK$40,000,000 (estimated)
- Gross US & Canada
- $174,273
- Opening weekend US & Canada
- $21,372
- Oct 12, 2008
- Gross worldwide
- $2,009,694
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