From financial doom, Wong Kar Wai film is reborn (Reuters)

LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - It was not his stock fund or 401k plan that was in jeopardy, but to Chinese director Wong Kar Wai, it was just as -- if not far more -- important. It was his movie, "Ashes of Time" that could have been lost forever.

In the midst of the Asian financial collapse of the late 1990s, Wong began a project to restore his martial arts movie, "Ashes of Time," and the result is "Ashes of Time Redux," which began playing for the first time in U.S. theatres last weekend and will travel around the world in weeks to come.

Wong views "Redux" as more than a film that has been restored to remove scratches in the print or improve sound. While that has been done, he sees this version almost like an original because in previous incarnations on film or pirated DVDs, the movie was altered to meet the needs of different markets -- either legal or not.

"I looked at it and said, 'Well, we might as well take this time to make it right,' and so it became more than a restoration," he told Reuters. "I also realized that it foretold a lot of things about Chinese film."

Among them, Wong mentioned the change from old-style martial arts films that focused solely on action and excluded tales filled with love, loss and betrayal -- the stuff of human drama. He also noted the many actors in "Ashes of Time," among them Maggie Cheung, who would go on to find wider fame.

Yet, had it not been for the 1998 bankruptcy of a firm that was storing copies of the film, Wong and his production team may never have started the project.

"ASHES" OF BANKRUPTCY

When they went to collect copies of "Ashes of Time" from the bankrupt firm, his team found numerous different versions. Wong reckoned that if future audience would ever be able to experience his original vision, he would need to remake the film by piecing together various portions of old prints and fixing the images and sound.

The movie, which was first released in 1994, was inspired by Louis Cha's martial arts novel, "The Eagle-Shooting Heroes," and it takes place in five parts that match five seasons of the Chinese almanac.

Its numerous plots revolve around a man, Ouyang Feng (the late Leslie Cheung) who left his home when the woman he loves spurns him for his older brother, sending Feng into a self-imposed exile. To earn a living, he acts as an agent who finds hit men for people looking to have someone killed.

"The film was not a standard martial arts film," Wong said. "It addressed issues, and for that it was very controversial."

In fact, "Ashes of Time" earned only mixed reviews when originally released. Yet, over time it became a precursor for movies that transformed Chinese martial arts films.

Wong likens "Ashes of Time" to the westerns of John Ford or Sergio Leone, and said that while he was, at times, tempted to tinker with the tales and themes of his old movie, he never gave-in to the temptation.

To reinforce his point, he recalls a conversation he had with a musician hired to re-record music for "Redux."

That musician, Wong said, told him: "This film means a lot to us, so don't screw it up."

(Editing by Jill Serjeant)