“The pantheon of Hong Kong/Taiwanese screen stars, including Brigitte Lin, Tony Leung Chiu-wai, and Leslie Cheung, unite in this otherworldly, elliptical, impressionistic, and entirely intoxicating arthouse wuxia, shot on location (with great difficulty) in the remote Gobi Desert. The story centers on Ouyang Feng (Leslie Cheung), a heartbroken and cynical man who spends his days alone in the desert, connecting expert swordsmen with those seeking revenge and willing to pay for it. As Ouyang narrates his tale, interweaving the stories of his unusual clients, old friends and future foes, he begins to realize the mistakes of his own past, and how his fear of rejection may have led him to a life of exile.
Prompted by a necessary undertaking to preserve the original 1994 film’s surviving elements, Ashes of Time Redux is not merely a restoration but a stunning reorchestration of Wong’s sweeping wuxia epic, creating an even more intensified expression of the director’s singular sense of cinematic construction.” -Metrograph
