Character Representation in Ashes of Time from the Perspective of Buddhist Self-Grasping
Wong Kar-wai’s Ashes of Time (1994) presents the spiritual dilemmas of modern subjectivity through its distinctive narrative structure and visual aesthetics. Although the film contains few explicit religious references, the destinies of its characters resonate profoundly with core Buddhist concepts such as impermanence (anitya), non-self (anātman), self-grasping (ātma-grāha), and emptiness (śūnyatā). This study examines the film through the lens of the Buddhist doctrine of self-grasping, arguing that the existential suffering experienced by its principal characters originates not from external circumstances but from their persistent attachment to love, memory, identity, and life itself.
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