The GrandmasterEvery legend is comprised of two legacies--what it leaves behind and where it began. The Grandmaster is a martial arts drama about Ip Man (Tony Leung Chiu-Wai), who is best known in the West as the man who trained the legendary Bruce Lee. The Grandmaster depicts Ip Man's unlikely rise to fame among the divided Northern and Southern schools of kung fu, and his mixed rivalry and romance with the strong and lovely Gong Er (Zhang Ziyi). Gong Er is also the daughter of the renowned grandmaster of northern Chinese martial arts, Gong Yutian (Wang Qingxiang), and she struggles to be accepted as her father's successor because she is a woman.
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Directed by Wong Kar-wai, The Grandmaster is a rare martial arts film that educates audiences on the origins of Chinese martial arts without dull exposition, thanks to the exciting set pieces that show them off in all their splendor. The film juggles these thrilling and dramatic fight scenes with the turbulent history of China over a span of a decade and a half--from 1938 to 1953. The Grandmaster also explores the complex relationship between Ip Man and Gong Er, two gifted martial artists whose star-crossed affection for one another leads to moments of melancholy in The Grandmaster. Ip Man is a stoic prodigy of "Wing Chun", a martial art which he describes as being more straightforward than the other forms he encounters during the film. The Grandmaster opens with a rumble in the streets of his town of Foshun during a torrential rain storm, where several challengers face him at once. It sets the tone for the stylized fight scenes to come, with the rain spinning off of Ip Man's iconic white hat, and is lit in such a way that it almost appears to be shot in black and white. Ip Man's kung fu is efficient and utilitarian; when he describes how Wing Chun has only three forms--"spade", "pin", and "sheath"--he is suggesting that in spite of all the flourish and extravagance of other martial arts, that because he subscribes to simple and realistic truths, he can maintain his cool in every match and thus gain the advantage. Ip Man narrates The Grandmaster, describing his passion for Wing Chun at a young age, and how he was raised in a wealthy family and married a politician's daughter, Zhang Yongcheng (Song Hye-kyo), with whom he started a family. His unlikely invitation to represent the Southern schools of martial arts--delineated by their position relative to the Yangtze River--is a great honor, and pits him against the undefeated Gong Yutian, who has recently appointed his ambitious yet arrogant protegee, Ma Sun (Zhang Jin), to be the inheritor of his kung fu legacy. Yutian is so revered and acclaimed in all things, that there is considerable doubt as to whether Ip Man can stand before him, even though he is much younger. Yutian instead challenges Ip Man to a battle of "wits", using a small cake to represent China. Yutian describes the balance between the Northern and Southern schools and their rivalry, while challenging Ip Man to snatch the dessert from his hands and break it in two. The scene is framed to suggest that a kung fu battle is about to occur, but what follows seems to exist within the space of a dream or a vision. Ip Man tries to grab the small cake, and Yutian parries his attempts. The scene then appears to "reset", suggesting that this display was a metaphor for Ip Man's thought process which precedes the wise reply Ip Man makes. He claims that the way to free yourself of a limited vision is to see beyond the barriers you have placed before yourself. Yutian concedes the wisdom of his answer, and the cake snaps as though the mere thought of transcendent wisdom made it happen. Moments like these are frequent in The Grandmaster, and speak to the film's ability to use kung fu as more than just an excuse to do fancy flips and kicks, but to suggest an inner struggle, often of a philosophical or ideological nature.
The Grandmaster is a beautiful movie, featuring vibrant locales from the "Gold Pavilion" where martial artists gather to spar and relax, to the wintry vistas of Manchuria--where Gong Er's family resides--with vast landscapes perpetually covered in snow. Characters wear costumes that befit their personalities; some are simple like Ip Man's kung fu robes, while others are more ornate and elegant, like Gong Er's fur-lined coat that she wears during her final confrontation with Ma Sun in the train station on New Year's Eve. Kung fu fights in The Grandmaster are less about shattering tables and smashing windows than they are about depicting an encounter between two minds who communicate through their respective styles. Before Ip Man's exhibition match with Gong Yutian, he practices with three separate masters of three different styles; each master is introduced with a title card and their school of kung fu, and their distinct personalities come across in the fights. When Gong Er--who is indignant at her father's concession to Ip Man--challenges Ip Man to a fight, their encounter fosters a mutual attraction that builds while they fight. The two write to one another after the fight, as though they were in the process of a courtship, which puts a strain on Ip Man's relationship with his wife. As the war with Japan intensifies, Gong Er recalls the schism between Ma Sun and her father after Sun became a collaborator with Japan--in essence, Sun betrayed both his country and the legacy of the Chinese martial arts. Gong Er vows to reclaim her father's legacy from Ma Sun by force; this leads to one of the most striking kung fu set pieces in The Grandmaster, involving a heated match between the two masters while a steam-driven train endlessly rolls on alongside their fight. Each punch they throw is so strong, that when it strikes the pillars of the train station or the railings guarding the edge, the bolts that secure the fixtures fly out from their raw aggression. The fights are so stylish and choreographed that they resemble a ballet, appearing more operatic with the inclusion of classical music at times. The various styles represented are elegant, gorgeous, and swift, and never appear to be anything less than representations by expert practitioners. The Grandmaster is at its most enthusiastic and vibrant during these stylish displays, which begins to seem more like an escape from the world crumbling all around these scions of kung fu. Title cards describe the instability of the nation during the Second Sino-Japanese war, which led to mass starvation in the south--where Ip Man's family resides. This forces him to move to Hong Kong to make money to support them, but he ends up an exile after China closes its borders in 1950. Gong Er's quest for revenge is so desperate and consuming, that it drives her to opium. In one of the most tragic disclosures, she tells Ip Man that the legacy of her father--a style called "The 64 Hands", which she fought to reclaim--has been forgotten by her. The Grandmaster is a wistful biopic about the legacy of kung fu through the 20th century--but it is not a hopeless one. Ip Man teaches others Wing Chun, and the passing of the torch--a key motif in the film--is best represented in a bright young boy who comes to Ip Man's school, implied to be Bruce Lee.
Recommended for: Fans of an introspective kung fu drama and biopic about a near mythical practitioner of martial arts. The Grandmaster is also period piece about a turbulent time in recent Chinese history. On a side note, I loved how during the end credits, The Grandmaster inserts a montage of kung fu fights that expands on prior scenes in the film. When I saw this in the theater, I enjoyed no small degree of satisfaction that a bunch of jerks who talked during the film missed this because they left as soon as the credits started rolling. Their loss.
The Grandmaster is a beautiful movie, featuring vibrant locales from the "Gold Pavilion" where martial artists gather to spar and relax, to the wintry vistas of Manchuria--where Gong Er's family resides--with vast landscapes perpetually covered in snow. Characters wear costumes that befit their personalities; some are simple like Ip Man's kung fu robes, while others are more ornate and elegant, like Gong Er's fur-lined coat that she wears during her final confrontation with Ma Sun in the train station on New Year's Eve. Kung fu fights in The Grandmaster are less about shattering tables and smashing windows than they are about depicting an encounter between two minds who communicate through their respective styles. Before Ip Man's exhibition match with Gong Yutian, he practices with three separate masters of three different styles; each master is introduced with a title card and their school of kung fu, and their distinct personalities come across in the fights. When Gong Er--who is indignant at her father's concession to Ip Man--challenges Ip Man to a fight, their encounter fosters a mutual attraction that builds while they fight. The two write to one another after the fight, as though they were in the process of a courtship, which puts a strain on Ip Man's relationship with his wife. As the war with Japan intensifies, Gong Er recalls the schism between Ma Sun and her father after Sun became a collaborator with Japan--in essence, Sun betrayed both his country and the legacy of the Chinese martial arts. Gong Er vows to reclaim her father's legacy from Ma Sun by force; this leads to one of the most striking kung fu set pieces in The Grandmaster, involving a heated match between the two masters while a steam-driven train endlessly rolls on alongside their fight. Each punch they throw is so strong, that when it strikes the pillars of the train station or the railings guarding the edge, the bolts that secure the fixtures fly out from their raw aggression. The fights are so stylish and choreographed that they resemble a ballet, appearing more operatic with the inclusion of classical music at times. The various styles represented are elegant, gorgeous, and swift, and never appear to be anything less than representations by expert practitioners. The Grandmaster is at its most enthusiastic and vibrant during these stylish displays, which begins to seem more like an escape from the world crumbling all around these scions of kung fu. Title cards describe the instability of the nation during the Second Sino-Japanese war, which led to mass starvation in the south--where Ip Man's family resides. This forces him to move to Hong Kong to make money to support them, but he ends up an exile after China closes its borders in 1950. Gong Er's quest for revenge is so desperate and consuming, that it drives her to opium. In one of the most tragic disclosures, she tells Ip Man that the legacy of her father--a style called "The 64 Hands", which she fought to reclaim--has been forgotten by her. The Grandmaster is a wistful biopic about the legacy of kung fu through the 20th century--but it is not a hopeless one. Ip Man teaches others Wing Chun, and the passing of the torch--a key motif in the film--is best represented in a bright young boy who comes to Ip Man's school, implied to be Bruce Lee.
Recommended for: Fans of an introspective kung fu drama and biopic about a near mythical practitioner of martial arts. The Grandmaster is also period piece about a turbulent time in recent Chinese history. On a side note, I loved how during the end credits, The Grandmaster inserts a montage of kung fu fights that expands on prior scenes in the film. When I saw this in the theater, I enjoyed no small degree of satisfaction that a bunch of jerks who talked during the film missed this because they left as soon as the credits started rolling. Their loss.