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Elliptical, sweeping, lovely and thoroughly confusing, "Ashes of Time Redux" is not a film to rent. It's well worth paying to see it on the big screen.

This is the only martial arts film made by famed Hong Kong director Wong Kar Wai ("In the Mood for Love"). The "Redux" part of the title comes from his originally filming his adaptation (or, rather, reimagined version) of the Louis Cha (pen name Jin Yong) martial arts fantasy novel "The Eagle Shooting Heroes" in 1994, during that decade's creative explosion of Hong Kong film. It was a costly shoot that produced an incoherent cult movie with quite a few unauthorized versions floating around.

With "Ashes of Time Redux," Wong has decided to not just recut, but also rethink his original material, which has been digitally remastered, with amazing color and a vitality that is almost frightening.

The story revolves around a desert-dwelling loner named Ou-yang Feng (Leslie Cheung) who hires swordsmen to carry out contract killings. In the beginning, he is shown to be more salesman than martial artist; the film opens with his sales pitch to a potential customer. He is visited yearly by a friend, Huang Yaoshi (Tony Leung Ka Fai), who regales him with tales of his travels. He brings him a gift, a wine made by a woman, that promises to erase memory. Ou-yang won't partake but Huang drinks and drinks.

The story unwinds from there, jumping forward and backward in time and space. We meet the Blind Swordsman (Tony Leung Chiu Wai), a man employed by Ou-yang who is determined to make enough money to see "peach blossoms" in his hometown again before his sight goes. A brother and sister combo, Murong Yin and Murong Yang, both played by Brigitte Lin, come into Ou-yang's house looking for revenge. Who wronged them, though, isn't totally clear.

And there's the Woman (the luminous Maggie Cheung) who broke Ou-yang's heart years ago, and, in doing so broke her own. A rumpled swordsman, Hong Qi (Jacky Cheung), also comes into Ou-yang's orbit.

The impenetrability of the plot, and the amorphous cast of characters can be frustrating. Enjoying "Ashes of Time Redux" means letting go and allowing the waves of color and sound to slap you around a bit. It's not easy, but it's art.

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