Sporting his trademark silver-rimmed sunglasses (even indoors) and a staccato laugh that pops out when a particular reminiscence strikes him as amusing, Wong Kar Wai exudes a quiet yet immediately graspable warmth somewhat at odds with the interpersonal emotional coolness often explored in his films. He made his English-language debut with 2007’s My Blueberry Nights, and followed it up this year in mold-breaking fashion with an out-of-competition Cannes presentation and commercial re-release of a redux version of his abstruse 1994 samurai epic Ashes of Time, the film that first helped earn him a reputation for long shooting schedules. Never officially released outside of Asia, the ruminative, desert-set movie features a new score, swapped-out takes and other tweaks. I spoke with Wong recently about the unique perils of Hong Kong storage houses, the just completed Olympic games, and what to do when your cinematographer gets drunk and naked. For the full Q&A interview, from New York Magazine‘s Vulture, click here.