the reediting of Wong Kar-wai’s seminal 1994 masterpiece that stood the idea of the wuxia and kung fu film on it’s head, to say nothing of the entire catalog of film convention, Redux redoes chronology to resolve the plot eschewed and made elliptical in the original. ultimately, what Redux gains in clarity, it loses in art and artifice and bewildering revelry. still, both films are fantastically gorgeous, due in no small part to Christopher Doyle’s virtuosic cinematography creating a playful dance of color, shadow and light on the screen that i have never seen matched yet to this day. see both films…the original for it’s sheer display of cinematic artfulness, and Redux as WKW’s gift to those who toiled in a labour of love with his pet experiment.

PS – since there has yet to be a quality release of the original on dvd, it’s also nice to see the film in proper glory in the Redux dvd – that is, best you can get outside of the big screen.