The Grandmaster (2013)

The story of martial-arts master Ip Man, the man who trained Bruce Lee.

Director:

Kar-Wai Wong

Writers:

Kar-Wai Wong (story), Kar-Wai Wong (screenplay)

Stars:

Tony Chiu-Wai Leung, Ziyi Zhang, Jin Zhang

Nominated for 2 Oscars. Another 68 wins & 70 nominations.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Tony Chiu-Wai Leung	...	Ip Man (as Tony Leung)
Cung Le	...	Iron Shoes
Qingxiang Wang	...	Master Gong Yutian
Elvis Tsui	...	Mr. Hung (as Jinjiang Xu)
Song Hye-Kyo	...	Zhang Yongcheng (as Hye-kyo Song)
Kar-Yung Lau	...	Master Yong (as Chia Yung Liu)
Chau Yee Tsang	...	Shorty (as Chiu Yee Tsang)
Hoi-Pang Lo	...	Uncle Deng
Shun Lau	...	Master Rui
Xiaofei Zhou	...	Sister San
Mancheng Wang	...	Master Ba
Ting Yip Ng	...	Brother Sau
Man Keung Cho	...	Cho Man
Tony Ling	...	Foshan Martial Artist
Tielong Shang	...	Jiang

Storyline

Ip Man's peaceful life in Foshan changes after Gong Yutian seeks an heir for his family in Southern China. Ip Man then meets Gong Er who challenges him for the sake of regaining her family's honor. After the Second Sino-Japanese War, Ip Man moves to Hong Kong and struggles to provide for his family. In the mean time, Gong Er chooses the path of vengeance after her father was killed by Ma San.

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Plot Keywords:

ip man character | falling off a balcony | girl | crying | starving to death | 

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Taglines:

In Martial Arts there is no right or wrong, only the last man standing.

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Genres:

Action | Biography | Drama | Romance | War

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Motion Picture Rating (MPAA)

Rated PG-13 for violence, some smoking, brief drug use and language

Did You Know?

Trivia

Bruce Lee trained in Wing Chun and later developed his own hybrid martial arts philosophy, Jeet Kune Do ("The Way of the Intercepting Fist.")

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Quotes

Gong Er: Remember when I told you that there is nothing to regret in life? It's all bullshit. If life had no regrets it would be really boring.

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Alternate Versions

The original version released in Asia removes a portion of Yi Xintian's subplot. The rain fight sequence between Xintian and Ip Man shown in the trailer, for example, was removed. However, Wong Karwai then recut the movie for a special Berlin Film Festival screening by incorporating the missing scenes back, but editing out several scenes from the original version including a fight sequence between Ip Man and a Hong Kong challenger. Both versions are missing crucial segments that made all three main characters' journey feel incomplete. The actual finished movie was rumored to be 4 hours long. Wong Karwai mentioned he had no intention of releasing the 4 hour version.

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Connections

References Once Upon a Time in America (1984)

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Soundtracks

He Ri Jun Zai Lai
Written by Xue An Liu (as Liu Xuean) and Lin Bei (as Bei Lin)
Performed by Shirley Yamaguchi (as Li Xianglan)

User Reviews

Casey's Movie Mania: THE GRANDMASTER (2013)

Wong Kar-Wai's 10 years-in-the-making of the so-called Ip Man biopic is exquisitely photographed and blessed with some dazzling fight choreography, but THE GRANDMASTER is mostly a scattershot mess of unfocused direction.

When director Wong Kar-Wai first announced the project way back in 2002, I bet a lot of die-hard fans are eager to see how the critically-acclaimed art-house director is going to do a big-screen treatment of the legendary Ip Man. Fast forward to 2013 (after a string of delays and whatnot), THE GRANDMASTER has came and gone with mostly favorable reviews and successful box office runs. However, after finally watching it, I must say that THE GRANDMASTER turns out to be an overrated effort after all.

Likewise, Wong Kar-Wai is always meticulous when comes to distinctive visual flair. Philippe Le Sourd and Song Xiaofei's sumptuous cinematography is nice to look at, while beautifully framed Yuen Woo-Ping's fight choreography with such balletic mix of slow motion and various camera speeds. The rest of the technical credits are equally ace -- ranging from its elaborate production design to its detailed costume design. On the plus side, the first half is particularly engaging. As for the cast, Zhang Ziyi excels the most as the hotheaded, yet emotionally frustrating Gong Er.

The second half is hastily stitched together, while burdened by terribly inconsistent pace. It's understandable that Wong Kar-Wai's movie is always fragmented but this time, THE GRANDMASTER is way uneven yet unfocused. Another biggest problem here is the sudden change of focus from narrating Ip Man story to Gong Er story. If that's not insulting enough, the introduction of Chang Chen's The Razor character feels vague and needless altogether. Apart from Zhang Ziyi's exceptional performance, it's rather surprising to see the usually-reliable Tony Leung Chiu-Wai doesn't impress much as Ip Man. Although he is charismatic enough, he fails to expand his Ip Man character with a satisfying emotional center other than looking cool or broods a lot. Popular Korean actress Song Hye-Kyo is sadly neglected in a thankless role (thanks to Wong Kar-Wai for cutting off most of her scenes in the editing room) as Ip Man's wife, Zhang Yongcheng.

It's quite sad to see what could have been another classic Wong Kar-Wai movie-in-the-making turns out to be a disappointment. Strictly for die-hard fans.

http://caseymoviemania.blogspot.com/2013/04/the-grandmaster-2013.html

Details

Official Sites:

Official site Official site [Japan]

Country:

Hong Kong China

Language:

Mandarin Cantonese Japanese

Release Date:

30 August 2013 (USA)

Also Known As:

The Grandmaster

Filming Locations:

Chikan Movie and Television City, Guangzhou, Guangdong, China

Box Office

Budget:

$38,600,000 (estimated)

Opening Weekend USA:

$132,617, 25 August 2013

Gross USA:

$6,594,959

Cumulative Worldwide Gross:

$73,906,736

Company Credits

Production Co:

Block 2 Pictures, Jet Tone Production, Sil-Metropole Organisation

Technical Specs

Runtime:

130 min 108 min (cut) 122 min (international) 111 min (3-D)

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1