Dung che sai duk (1994)

User Rating:

7.3/10   

Director:

Kar Wai Wong

Writers:

Louis Cha (novel)
Kar Wai Wong (screenplay)

Release Date:

18 November 1995 (South Korea)

Genre:

Drama | Action

Plot:

A broken-hearted hit man moves to the desert where he finds skilled swordsmen to carry out his contract killings.

Plot Keywords:

Desert | Swordsman | China | Narration | One Man Army

Awards:

10 wins & 6 nominations

Cast

Brigitte Lin	...	Mu-rong Yin / Mu-rong Yang
Leslie Cheung	...	Ou-yang Feng
Maggie Cheung	...	The Woman
Tony Leung Chiu Wai	...	Blind Swordsman
Jacky Cheung	...	Hung Chi
Tony Leung Ka Fai	...	Huang Yao-shi
Li Bai	...	Hung Chi's Wife
Carina Lau	...	Peach Blossom
Charlie Yeung	...	Young Girl
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Joey Wang	...	(scenes deleted)
Shun Lau	...	Leader of Ouyang's Opponents in Opening Battle (uncredited)

Directed by
Kar Wai Wong

Writing credits (in alphabetical order)
Louis Cha		novel "The Eagle Shooting Heroes"
Kar Wai Wong		screenplay

Produced by
Ye-cheng Chan	....	executive producer
Jeffrey Lau	....	producer
Tsai Mu Ho	....	executive producer
Sung-lin Tsai	....	producer
Jacky Pang Yee Wah	....	producer
Kar Wai Wong	....	producer

Original Music by
Frankie Chan
Roel A. García

Cinematography by
Christopher Doyle

Film Editing by
Kit-Wai Kai
Patrick Tam		(as Ka-Ming Tam)
William Chang		(uncredited)

Production Design by
William Chang

Costume Design by
William Chang

Sound Department
Michael Baird	....	additional sound effects designer
Nopawat Likitwong	....	sound editor
Robert Mackenzie	....	sound designer
Robert Mackenzie	....	sound re-recording mixer
Terry Tu	....	sound re-recording mixer
Traithep Wongpaiboon	....	sound re-recording mixer

Other crew
Sammo Hung Kam-Bo	....	action sequence designer

Thanks
Gilles Ciment	....	thanks

Production Companies

• Beijing Film Studio
• Jet Tone Production
• Pony Canyon
• Scholar Productions

Distributors

• Block 2 Pictures (1994) (worldwide) (all media)
• ARP Sélection (2008) (France) (theatrical)
• Cathay-Keris Films (2009) (Singapore) (theatrical)
• D Production (2008) (Turkey) (theatrical)
• D Productions (2008) (Turkey) (theatrical)
• FS Film Oy (2009) (Finland) (DVD)
• Filmcoopi Zürich (2008) (Switzerland) (theatrical)
• HKFM (1996) (USA) (subtitled)
• Imagem Filmes (2009) (Brazil) (all media)
• Media Rights (2008) (Romania) (theatrical)
• Monolith (2008) (Poland) (theatrical)
• Sony Pictures Classics (2007) (USA) (all media)
• Sony Pictures Home Entertainment (2009) (USA) (DVD)
• Splendid Film (2008) (Germany) (theatrical)

Other Companies

• Agfa Gevaert  film stock supplied by
• Dolby Laboratories  sound mix
• Fine Art Film Production Company  subtitles
• Mandarin Recording Studio Ltd.  sound re-recording studio
• Sony Classical  soundtrack
• Soundfirm  sound post-production (Redux Release)
• Universal Laboratory  film processing

Also Known As:

Ashes of Time Redux (International: English title) (International: English title) (recut version)
Ashes of Time (Hong Kong: English title)
Dong xie xi du (Hong Kong: Mandarin title)
Dong xie xi du zhongji ban (China: Mandarin title) (recut version)
Dung che sai duk redux (Hong Kong: Cantonese title) (recut version)
Cenizas del tiempo redux (Argentina) (festival title) [es]
Cinzas do passado Redux (Brazil) [pt]
Die verlorene Zeit (Germany) [de]
Este contraveneno del Oeste (Spain) [es]
Les cendres du temps (France) [fr]
Les cendres du temps - Redux (France) [fr]
Na východe dábel, na západe jed (Czech Republic) [cs]
Stahtes tou hronou (Greece) (festival title) [el]

MPAA:

Rated R for some violence.

Runtime:

100 min | 93 min (Redux version) | 93 min

Country:

Hong Kong | China | Taiwan

Language:

Cantonese | Mandarin

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital (Redux version) | Mono

Certification:

Singapore:PG | South Korea:15 | UK:15 | USA:R (Redux version) | Canada:13+ (Quebec) (Redux version) | Canada:14A (Alberta/British Columbia/Manitoba/Ontario) (Redux version) | Canada:AA (Ontario) | Canada:G (Quebec) | Hong Kong:II | Singapore:NC-16 (DVD rating) (Redux version) | Hong Kong:IIB (Redux version) | Finland:K-15

Filming Locations:

China

Company:

Beijing Film Studio

Trivia:

This film had an exhausting effect on Kar Wai Wong. While on hiatus during the editing process he wrote and shot Chung Hing sam lam (1994) (Chungking Express) to "clear his head".

Quotes:

Ou-yang Feng: [to a potential customer] For all these years, there must be some people who you don't want to mention or you don't want to meet again. Because they did something really awful to you. Maybe you want to kill them. But you dare not. In fact, it's really easy to kill a person. Not difficult at all. I have a friend who is great at solving problems. But he has been a little short lately. If you can give him some money, he must be able to solve your problems. Indeed you can think my proposal over. But be quick!

Movie Connections:

Referenced in Yeopgijeogin geunyeo (2001)

my favorite Kar Wai Wong movie

As a Chinese, I had chance to watch Kar Wai Wong's movies in my childhood. One of them is Dung che sai duk. But at that time, I couldn't even understand any of the actor's lines. Didn't understand why they people fight or cry. Then I fell asleep.

But after many years, when I went to university, when the girl I deep in love with left me to another country. I saw DVD of this film again, alone. And this time I cannot help enjoying it. Every actor's line touched me very very much.

What's behind the mountain? May be another mountain, and another. How wonderful it'd be to forget the past. Everyday would be a new beginning. Isn't that great? What's love? Maybe love is to leave the one you love, to win the one then finally find you have lost everything including yourself.

Now I have my job and new life. Many things have been past for a long time. And this movie, I cannot remember some of the scenes. But sometimes I still recall lots of words they say. When I am alone, when I feel gloomy or a little bit sad, the words will come to my mind with beautiful music and the scene of huge desert.

In this world, something's gonna change, something's not. If you cannot have someone, the only thing you can do is not to forget.

I will never forget.