The Grandmaster
I think it’s safe to say that, among modern directors, Wong Kar-Wai is one of those that is something of an acquired taste, even among cineastes. I’ve only seen a handful of his movies (“2046,” “Chungking Express,” and the anthology “Eros,” for which he lent the vignette, “The Hand”), but none of them have been easy viewings, and such is the case with “The Grandmaster.” Having finally seen it after it’s been in theatres for a couple of weeks, I’ve very curious to see how some of the post-film conversations are going with parents bringing their kids to see it because, hey, it’s got martial arts!
The trailers put out for “The Grandmaster” have, indeed, played up the martial arts/kung fu angle without really copping to the actual story, which is the life and legacy of Ip Man, a master who went to Hong Kong after the Japanese occupation of China to teach, and never left. He did, however, leave a legacy of students that included Bruce Lee, and a philosophy of living that rivals his accomplishments as a martial artist. His life has been brought to the screen before in tributes by filmmakers, but I don’t think by anyone with the stature in world cinema Wong Kar Wai (also known for “In the Mood for Love” and “Happy Together,” neither of which have been seen by me), and to help him, the director enlisted Tony Leung (from “In the Mood for Love,” “2046,” “Hard-Boiled,” and “Red Cliff”) to play Ip Man, and he does a fine job bringing solemnity and passion to the role.
In addition to Ip Man, the film focuses a lot on Er Gong, an heiress to a martial arts family played by the always-luminous Zhang Ziyi (“2046,” “Memoirs of a Geisha,” “Crouching Tiger Hidden Dragon”). Er Gong is very much the co-lead of the film with Ip Man, as she is the last of her family after her father dies. Her feelings for Ip Man, the man who defeated her father to become the “grandmaster,” compromise her ability to maintain the family’s honor, so she takes a vow of celibacy, and to not teach martial arts again, as a way of holding true to her code of honor. Leung and Ziyi have a lovely, engaging chemistry together, which is important as the film moves back and forth through time, and focuses more on Gong and Ip’s lives of solitude than on bone-smashing kung fu battles.
When Wong Kar-Wai does bring the martial arts action, however, the results are breathtaking in not just the choreography by Woo-ping Yuen (“The Matrix,” “Crouching Tiger Hidden Dragon”) but the images by cinematographer Philippe Le Sourd. The lack of hard-core fight scenes might be disappointing to fans of the genre, and I’ll be the first to admit that the film loses a lot of energy as it’s following the pair’s lives, but Wong Kar Wai has never been an easy filmmaker, so a word of caution– don’t look for easy thrills from this film. This is about more than just satisfying fans. Whether said fans will be interested in that, however, is another matter entirely.
