Only Wong Kar-wai could’ve turned what his financers must’ve hoped would be a wuxia action flick into an elliptical, Borges-ian rumination on love, memory and mortality. And though Ashes of Time was an expensive flop back in 1994, it’s one of the Hong Kong auteur’s most gorgeous and alluring works, especially in this newly revamped form.

Nevertheless, its notoriously confounding, fugue-like narrative structure still diffuses some of the overall impact. A series of interconnected stories pivot around Leslie Cheung’s performance as Feng, a shadowy figure who assists those in search of their desires, be it love or vengeance. The storylines disintegrate and recombine as forgetful swordsmen and lovelorn damsels drift through desert landscapes and do battle in the very occasional dust-up, choreographed (though you could hardly tell) by Sammo Hung.

The slight but judicious re-editing, much enhanced colour palette and revised, Yo-Yo Ma’d-up musical score make this a grandly sumptuous viewing experience. In the 14 years since it first surfaced, no one — not even Wong — has had the gumption to mount anything quite like Ashes of Time. Its fervent cult of admirers is surely about to swell in size.