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+ Best Hong Kong Movie of the Year + Best Kung Fu Movie of the Year
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| Vivid motion and water splashing incredibly are central elements on this mostly black and white poster for Wong Kar-Wai's The Grandmaster |
Kung fu legend Yip Man is followed in 1936 during internal competitions in China's martial arts groups, Japanese occupation and great changes in the country.
The Grandmaster is written by Jingzhi Zou (Legend of a Kung Fu Rabbit/Tu xia chuan qi (2011)), Haofeng Xu (Judge Archer/Jian shi liu bai yuan (2012)) and Chinese master filmmaker, co-writer/co-producer/director Wong Kar-Wai (As Tears Go By/Wong Gok ka moon (1988)). It is based on real-life Wing Chun grandmaster Ip Man. The original title translates to, 'ancestral teacher of a generation.'
It is a fascinating and odd film, which it seems hard to fully comprehend, perhaps notably as a Westerner, - but even as a Westerner who has seen a good deal of kung fu movies. Much of it ostensibly revolves around kung fu techniques.
The Grandmaster has kinetic, explosive fight scenes, and Kar-Wai makes it an esoteric art form all his own to manipulate the speed of large portions of the film's shots, which enshrouds it in an unreal haze. This makes periods of the film seem downright dizzying as an onslaught of beauty and poetry in violent motion. The Grandmaster definitely deserves to be watched more than once.
Related posts:
Wong Kar-Wai: 2013 in films and TV-series - according to Film Excess [UPDATED VI]
My Blueberry Nights (2007) - A slice too cute
2046 (2004) - Kar-Wai's visually resplendent, empty hull of a movie
2000 in films and TV-series - according to Film Excess
In the Mood for Love/花樣年華/faa1joeng6 nin4waa4/huāyàng niánhuá (2000) - Kar-Wai's delectable home run
Chungking Express/重慶森林 (1994) - Kar-Wai's urban love drama is a visual treat
Watch a trailer for the film here
Cost: 240 mil. CNY, approximately 38.6 mil. $
Box office: 73.9 mil. $
= Big flop (returned 1.91 times its cost)
[The Grandmaster was released 8 January (China) and runs 130 minutes, with shorter Western versions running 123 and 108 minutes. Development began in 2008. One delay came when Tony Leung (Hard Boiled/Lat sau san taam (1992)), who plays Ip Man, broke his arm while training Wing Chun. Shooting took place from December 2009 - April 2010 in China. The film opened #37 to a 132k $ first weekend in North America in 7 theaters, where it peaked at #15 and in 804 theaters (different weeks), grossing 6.5 mil. $ (8.8 % of the total gross). The biggest markets were China with 45.2 mil. $ (61.2 %), North America and Hong Kong with 2.7 mil. $ (3.7 %). While the original cut runs 130 minutes, the Berlin International Film Festival cut - the first shown in the West - is 123 minutes, and the North-American edit dictated by distributor The Weinstein Company, is 108 minutes. The film was Hong Kong's nomination for the Best Foreign Film category at the Oscars. It was instead nominated for 2 other Oscars; it lost Best Cinematography (Philippe Le Sourd (Melody for a Hustler/Cantique de la Racaille (1998)) to Emmanuel Lubezki for Gravity and Costumes to The Great Gatsby. It won 7/11 Asian Film award nominations, 12/14 Hong Kong Film award nominations, a National Board of Review award, among other honors. The film made an additional 9.8 mil. $ (13.3 %) at a 2015 Chinese re-release. Kar-Wai has not returned as director since The Grandmaster and is only announced in connection with two - perhaps - coming TV-series. Leung returned in Shimajiro: A Wonderful Adventure/Gekijouban Shimajirou no wao!: Shimajirou to kujira no uta (2014); Ziyi Zhang (Love for Life/Mo shu wai zhuan (2011)) in Better and Better/Yue lai yue hao: Cun wan (2013). The Grandmaster is certified fresh at 78 % with a 6.70/10 critical average at Rotten Tomatoes.]
What do you think of The Grandmaster?
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