The Grandmaster is the latest release by Wong Kar Wai. It has been five years since his previous film, and only English debut, My Blueberry Nights. This movie was supposedly about Wing Chun master, Ip Man. I was thinking, what? Another Ip Man flick? I am very impressed by the 2008's version starring Donnie Yen as the titular leading character, directed by Wilson Yip, with action choreographed by Sammo Hung. While the producers of the former came up with the idea in 1998, Wong Kar Wai stated that the concept of making a movie about Ip Man has been around for 17 years, having supposedly stuck in development hell. Or maybe he was taking his own sweet time to do it, as the acclaimed auteur is notorious for. Comparison is inevitable. Wilson Yip's version stole the thunder first, catapulting the Wing Chun master into global limelight and recognition, mostly as the first master of the late Bruce Lee, and riding on its box office success, spawned a sequel, prequel and serials, all of which, in my personal opinion, do not hold a candle to the first. But having been a fan of the "oh so yesterday" term post modern works of director, that is, up to 1997's Happy Together (coz I became bored with 2000's In The Mood For Love, 2004's 2046 due to their supremely long, drawn out scenes and what I personally deemed as a Americanised version of 1993's Chungking Express, My Blueberry Nights, even though these are the ones which cemented Wong's position as one of the leading Hong Kong Second Wave directors internationally to mass acclaim). Starring long time first choice lead actor, Tony Leung as Ip Man, Zhang Ziyi as the fictional (but loosely based on the real life assassin seeking revenge, Shi Jianqiao) Gong Er and Chang Chen as another fictional character, Yixiantian (a composition of two Ba Ji martial arts personas), there are also tonnes of "guest appearances" by numerous actors, actresses, singers too many to mention. And by "guest appearances" I really meant ranging from a "miss him/her if you blink" to maximum of three scenes. But of course those who are acquainted with the director's choice of deciding who has the longest scene or ended up on the editing floor should know by now. The most unfortunate "victim" who still hold the record is of course Shirley Kwan in Happy Together. But you can get to see her in Buenos Aires Zero Degree documentary on YouTube. And perhaps followed by Takuya Kimura in 2046. Now, you may want to add Song Hye-kyo into the list, as Ip Man's wife. Tony Leung, as ever, seems easily carry off his role as Ip Man. Zhang Ziyi successfully fleshed out a strong, female persona worthy of the tragic character. And so does Chang Chen, though I am currently at lost how his character is linked to the entire story. Maybe as a parallel to Ip Man? The Grandmaster is a slight departure stylistically from his earlier works but still maintaining the trademark visual feasts for the eyes even though long time choreographer, Christopher Doyle has left, last collaborated with Wong in 2046. The action/fight sequence is simply incredible, beautiful and graceful even, courtesy of Yuen Woo Ping. Slight hint of The Matrix-like action there but executed nicely. No blurry, cut scenes of 1994's Ashes of Time style battle. Now, the story. Contrary to what everyone, including me, thought that this is another Ip Man tale, it is actually not. This is just a guess but my understanding, which could be wrong, is that Wong Kar Wai is using the same structure as in Ashes of Time, of which he uses Jin Yong's famous characters from The Condor Heroes novels as platforms to convey the message of fractured relationships, emotional desolation, inability to let go of past memories amidst the surrounding environments and situations which ultimately intertwine with the outcome, destiny and fate of each of the characters. Thus this is not about Ip Man. It is about Wong Kar Wai's socio-philosophical musing on the state of the Chinese martial arts amidst the tumultuous, changing times of the first half of the 20th century as well as how each of the martial arts masters cope with it, their own personal decisions and paths ultimately deciding the fate of the skills which they have had mastered. Some would be lost forever, some diluted, some becomes unpopular while others, like Ip Man, succeed in passing it on to the next generation. Thus there are many grandmasters, but like the tagline, the last man standing, I guess Wong Kar Wai muses that a true grandmaster should not only excel in combat, but how far they could persevere, with enough foresight to tread, adapt and survive the changing times, personal hardships and ultimately manages to pass on his/her martial arts skills to the next generations. Reminds me of Ridley Scott's Gladiator whereby Maximus said what we do in life echoes in eternity. Thus, the movie title, The Grandmaster, I guess, is Wong's reference to Ip Man specifically because in the movie, he is the only one whom succeeded not only in overcoming all other grandmasters in personal combat, but also managed to overcome all forms of challenges life throws at him. In a single stroke, as the credit rolls, I realised Wong Kar Wai managed to avoid comparison with Wilson Yip's version. To do so would be impossible, unfair even. The latter is a straightforward, action packed, entertaining movie. The former is a "thinking" piece, with "layers", very much in the spirit of his previous works. Though it still has it shortfall. That shortfall is the lack of or cryptic background information, underdeveloped characters, some which simply appear just for the sake of appearing. It also seems to be very rushed. As I understand, The Grandmaster stands to be Wong's biggest box office hit to date. But I would have loved to love this movie. Sadly, due to the lack of characters' and plots depth, even though the overall arc encompassing the storyline is engaging, I am sticking to Wong Kar Wai's earlier works.
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