The Grandmaster (film)

This article is about the 2013 film. For other films, see Grandmaster (disambiguation).
The Grandmaster

Poster with Tony Leung, Zhang Ziyi, Chang Chen and Zhao Benshan
Traditional 一代宗師
Simplified 一代宗师
Mandarin Yīdài Zōngshī
Cantonese Jat1 Doi6 Zung1 Si1
Literally Ancestral teacher of a generation
Directed by Wong Kar-wai
Produced by Ng See-yuen
Megan Ellison
Wong Kar-wai
Screenplay by Wong Kar-wai
Zou Jingzhi
Xu Haofeng
Story by Wong Kar-wai
Starring Tony Leung
Zhang Ziyi
Chang Chen
Zhao Benshan
Song Hye-kyo
Wang Qingxiang
Music by Shigeru Umebayashi
Stefano Lentini
Cinematography Philippe Le Sourd
Edited by William Chang
Production
company
Block 2 Pictures
Jet Tone Films
Sil-Metropole Organisation
Bona International Film Group
Distributed by Sil-Metropole Organisation
Bona Film Group
Release dates
  • 8 January 2013 (2013-01-08) (China)
  • 10 January 2013 (2013-01-10) (Hong Kong)
Running time
 130 minutes
Country Hong Kong[1]
China[1]
Language Mandarin[1]
Cantonese
Japanese
Budget ¥240 million (US$38.6 million)[2]
Box office US$64,076,736[3]

The Grandmaster is a 2013 Hong Kong-Chinese martial arts drama film based on the life story of the Wing Chun grandmaster Ip Man.[1][4] The film was directed and written by Wong Kar-wai and stars Tony Leung as Yip Man. It was released on 8 January 2013 in China. It was the opening film at the 63rd Berlin International Film Festival in February 2013.[5] The film was selected as part of the 2013 Hong Kong International Film Festival.[6] The Weinstein Company acquired the international distribution rights for the film.[7] The film was selected as the Hong Kong entry for the Best Foreign Language Film at the 86th Academy Awards,[8] making the January shortlist, but did not get the nomination.[9] The film was nominated for Best Cinematography (Philippe Le Sourd) and Best Costume Design (William Chang Suk Ping) at the 86th Academy Awards.[10][11]

Plot

The film narrates the life of the Wing Chun grandmaster Ip Man, beginning in the 1930s in Foshan and moving on to cover his flight to Hong Kong after the Second Sino-Japanese War, and the events leading up to his death.

The movie begins with Ip Man reflecting on martial arts, and then cuts to a scene of a fight under the rain between Ip and a dozen combatants. Ip Man wins, and experiences flashbacks of his life, from his early training at the age of seven to his induction into martial arts by his master Chan Wah-shun, and his marriage to his wife Cheung Wing-sing.

Ip Man's peaceful existence is threatened by the arrival of Gong Yutian, the Wudang Boxing martial arts grandmaster from northern China, who announces that he has already retired and has appointed Ma San as his heir in the North. He then concedes that the South should have its own heir. A flurry of discussions and fights erupt as various masters attempt to challenge Gong, but they are all barred by Ma San. As the Southern masters are deliberating on a representative, Gong Yutian's daughter Gong Er arrives and she tries to convince her father not to continue the fight, as she feels they are all unworthy. Meanwhile, the Southern masters decide on Ip Man to represent them, and Ip proceeds to be tested by three Southern masters before he challenges Gong Yutian. However, the "fight" between Ip and Gong turns out to be actually an exchange of philosophical ideas. Gong declares Ip the winner and returns to northern China. However, Gong Er sets out to regain her family's honour by challenging Ip Man, and they agree that if anything breaks, Ip loses. "Kung Fu is about precision", so whoever breaks a piece of furniture during the fight will be the loser. An intense fight breaks out between Ip Man and Gong Er, which concludes with victory for Gong because Ip broke a step at the very end (albeit while 'saving Gong from falling'). Ip and Gong then part on friendly terms, with Ip saying he wants a rematch.

Ip Man and Gong Er keep in contact after parting ways by exchanging letters, and Ip intends to bring his family with him to northern China, but his plans are disrupted by the outbreak of the Second Sino-Japanese War in 1937. During the war, Ip Man and his family descend into poverty and he loses his two daughters due to starvation. In the meantime, in northern China, Ma San becomes a hanjian and ends up killing Gong Yutian. When Gong Er returns, she confronts her elders for forsaking her father but they tell her that her father's final wish was for her to be happy and not to seek vengeance. Gong Er refuses to accept that, instead, she vows to never teach, marry or have children, and devotes her entire life for vengeance.

Ip Man moves to Hong Kong in the hope of starting a career as a martial arts teacher, but ends up facing all sorts of challenges because there were also numerous other martial arts masters. He defeats them soundly and earns a reputation. He meets Gong Er again on Chinese New Year's Eve 1950 and asks her for a contest one more time while implying that she should start rebuilding her martial art school. But Gong Er refuses, stating that many martial arts disappeared in the course of history; and that hers would not be the only one. A flashback 10 years earlier shows a confrontation between Gong Er and Ma San at a train station on Chinese New Year's Eve 1940, and Gong defeats Ma after a brutal and intense fight. However, Gong herself is heavily injured and loses her desire to use martial art.

The film then fast-forwards to 1952, when Ip Man and Gong Er meet each other for the last time. Gong confesses to Ip that she has had romantic feelings for him right from the beginning. She dies shortly after. Ip explains in a voice over that in the fight with Ma San, Gong was injured so badly she turned to opium for the pain and this was her downfall. The final scenes offer a visual montage as Ip Man's school flourishes, including a statement that Ip made Wing Chun popular worldwide and his most famous student was Bruce Lee. Off screen, it is stated that Ip Man died in 1972.

Cast

Production

The film is well known for its long development time, having been announced in 2008.[12] It was caught in development hell, partly because Tony Leung broke his arm while training in Wing Chun.[13] The film is Wong's most expensive production to date. Wong intended the film to be a major collaboration with mainland China's film industry,[14] noting that the enormous expansion and growth in China's film industry and market over the past decade has provided filmmakers with resources to make features that weren't possible before.[14] Wong stated, "Films don't just belong to the mainland or Hong Kong. They belong to all Chinese and not just to a certain place at a certain time. It's a legacy that belongs to all of us."[15]

Music

The music is composed by Shigeru Umebayashi and Nathaniel Méchaly, with 2 works by Ennio Morricone and the original Stabat Mater composed by Stefano Lentini. The Stabat Mater is not included in the soundtrack CD and it was published separately by Milan Records as "Stabat Mater" As Seen in Wong Kar Wai's "The Grandmaster". It reached Number 1 in Hong Kong's iTunes Original Score.

Reception

The Grandmaster received generally favorable reviews from critics. The film received a 75% approval rating from the review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes, based on 99 reviews with an average score of 6.7/10.[16]

Variety gave the film a positive review, stating Wong "exceeds expectations with 'The Grandmaster,' fashioning a 1930s action saga into a refined piece of commercial filmmaking". The review also says, "Boasting one of the most propulsive yet ethereal realizations of authentic martial arts onscreen, as well as a merging of physicality and philosophy not attained in Chinese cinema since King Hu's masterpieces, the hotly anticipated pic is sure to win new converts from the genre camp."[1]

While praising Tony Leung's Ip Man and Zhang Ziyi's Gong Er, calling the latter "more or less complete and coherent", The Hollywood Reporter lamented some of the more underdeveloped characters stating that "the same can't be said of some of the other characters, such as Chang Chen’s Razor, an expert of the Bajiquan school who is supposed to be another of the grandmasters. Song Hye-kyo’s Madam Ip has only a cursory presence and is basically rendered invisible in the film’s second half."[17]

Zhang Ziyi's performance as Gong Er has been praised by critics such as Scott Bowles of USA Today as the film's "discovery",[18] and her character has been mentioned by critics such as Kenji Fujishima of Slant Magazine as the film's "real central figure" in spite of the film's title.[19]

Owen Gleiberman of Entertainment Weekly wrote: "the film, despite a few splendid fights, is a biohistorical muddle that never finds its center."[20]

The Grandmaster has earned HK$21,156,949 (US$2.7 million) at the Hong Kong box office,[21] and grossed over 312 million yuan (US$50 million) at the mainland Chinese box office, USD$6,594,959 in North America and USD$64,076,736 in worldwide, and thus becoming Wong's highest grossing film to date.[22][23]

Versions

There are three versions of the film that have been released. First is the domestic "Chinese Cut" of the film that runs 130 minutes.[4][24] Second is the version of the film that debuted at the 2013 Berlin International Film Festival at 123 minutes.[4] The third, released by The Weinstein Company, is a more linear version that includes explanatory text for Americans less familiar with the story[25] and runs at 108 minutes.[26]

Wong wrote in The Huffington Post that he was "never interested in telling a watered down version," but one that was tighter and provided greater historical context:

As a filmmaker, let me say that the luxury of creating a new cut for U.S. audiences was the opportunity to reshape it into something different than what I began with -- a chance one doesn't always get as a director and an undertaking much more meaningful than simply making something shorter or longer. The original version of THE GRANDMASTER is about 2 hours, 10 minutes. Why not 2 hours, 9 minutes or 2 hours, 11 minutes? To me, the structure of a movie is like a clock or a prized watch -- it's about precision and perfect balance.[27]

But some critics believe the 130-minute version is superior. The Wrap called the film "sweeping, gorgeous, exciting – and butchered."[28] Manohla Dargis at The New York Times wrote, "too bad that the American distributor didn’t have enough faith in the audience to release the original."[29]

Awards and nominations

Organization Award category Recipients and nominees Result
86th Academy Awards Best Cinematography Philippe Le Sourd Nominated
Best Costume Design William Chang Suk Ping Nominated
20th Hong Kong Film Critics Society Award Best Film Won
Best Actress Zhang Ziyi Won
50th Golden Horse Awards Best Film Nominated
Best Director Wong Kar-wai Nominated
Best Actor Tony Leung Nominated
Best Actress Zhang Ziyi Won
Best Cinematography Phillipe Le Sourd Won
Best Visual Effect Pierre Buffin Won
Best Art Direction William Chang Won
Best Makeup and Costume Design William Chang Won
Best Action Choreography Yuen Woo-ping Nominated
Best Editing William Chang Nominated
Best Sound Effect Robert Mackenzie and Trithep Wangpaiboon Nominated
Audience Choice Award Won
Boston Society of Film Critics Awards 2013 Best Cinematography Phillipe Le Sourd 2nd Place
Denver Film Critics Society 2013 Best Non-English Language Feature Won
Motion Picture Sound Editors Golden Reel Awards[30][31] Best Sound Editing: Sound Effects, Foley, Dialogue & ADR in a Foreign Feature Film Robert Mackenzie, Traithep Wongpaiboon Won
National Board of Review Awards 2013 Top Foreign Films Won
Online Film Critics Society Awards 2013 Best Cinematography Phillipe Le Sourd Nominated
Phoenix Film Critics Society Award 2013 Best Foreign Language Film Nominated
St. Louis Gateway Film Critics Association Awards 2013 Best Art Direction Nominated
Best Cinematography Phillipe Le Sourd Nominated
33rd Hong Kong Film Awards Best Film Won
Best Director Wong Kar-wai Won
Best Screenplay Zou Jingzhi, Xu Haofeng, Wong Kar-wai Won
Best Actor Tony Leung Chiu-wai Nominated
Best Actress Zhang Ziyi Won
Best Supporting Actor Zhang Jin Won
Best Cinematography Phillipe Le Sourd Won
Best Film Editing William Chang, Benjamin Courtines, Poon Hung-yiu Won
Best Art Direction William Chang, Alfred Yau Wai-ming Won
Best Costume & Make-Up Design William Chang Won
Best Action Choreography Yuen Woo-ping Won
Best Original Film Score Shigeru Umebayashi, Nathaniel Mechaly Won
Best Sound Design Robert Mackenzie, Traithep Wongpaiboon Won
Best Visual Effects Pierre Buffin Nominated

See also

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 Lee, Maggie (2013-01-08). "The Grandmaster". Variety. Retrieved 2013-01-09.
  2. ↑ Stephen Cremin and Patrick Frater (2013-01-15). "Grandmaster has masterful BO debut". Film Business Asia. Retrieved 2013-01-16.
  3. ↑ "The Grandmaster". Box Office Mojo. Retrieved 2015-01-10.
  4. 1 2 3 Elley, Derek (28 January 2013). "The Grandmaster". Film Business Asia. Retrieved 5 May 2013.
  5. ↑ "WONG Kar Wai's The Grandmaster to open 63rd Berlinale". Berlinale. Retrieved 2012-12-19.
  6. ↑ "HKIFF Review: The Grandmaster". HK Neo Reviews. Retrieved 2013-04-04.
  7. ↑ "Berlin: So Much For Bad Blood Between Harvey And Megan Ellison; TWC Acquires Wong Kar Wai's 'The Grandmaster'". Deadline.com. Retrieved 2013-05-17.
  8. ↑ "Oscars: Hong Kong Nominates Wong Kar-wai's 'The Grandmaster' for Foreign Language Category". Hollywood Reporter. Retrieved 2013-09-23.
  9. ↑ "9 Foreign Language Films Advance in Oscar Race". Oscars. Retrieved 2013-12-20.
  10. ↑ Peter Knegt, 2014 Oscar Predictions: Best Cinematography, http://www.indiewire.com/article/2014-oscar-predictions-best-cinematography
  11. ↑ Oscars, William Chang Suk Ping, Best Costume Design, http://oscar.go.com/nominees/costume-design/the-grandmaster
  12. ↑ Kevin Jagernauth (12 July 2012). "Yes, Wong Kar-Wai Is Still Shooting 'The Grandmaster'". [Indiewire].
  13. ↑ Mark Pollard (2009). "Tony Leung injured while training for 'Grand Master'". [KungFucinema.com].
  14. 1 2 "Wong Kar Wai On China's Growth, Kung Fu, Oscar Contenders & Bruce Lee". Deadline.com. One of the reasons I wanted to make this film at this point is because I think in the last 20 years you can see the growth in China...
  15. ↑ "Hong Kong Filmart: Does China Still Need the Island?". The Hollywood Reporter. 2013-03-15. Hong Kong director Wong Kar-wai says the time has come to move beyond outdated definitions of Chinese and Hong Kong cinema. "Films don't just belong to the mainland or Hong Kong," he says. "They belong to all Chinese and not just to a certain place at a certain time. It's a legacy that belongs to all of us." Wong, who made his reputation with moody art house fare like 2000's In the Mood for Love, is living proof. He now is enjoying his biggest box-office hit in China with The Grandmaster, his first genre film.
  16. ↑ "The Grandmaster". Rotten Tomatoes. Flixster. Retrieved 29 January 2014.
  17. ↑ Tsu, Clarence. "The Grandmaster: Film Review". The Hollywood Reporter. Retrieved 2013-02-03.
  18. ↑ "'The Grandmaster' connects with solid action, acting". USA Today.
  19. ↑ "The 25 Best Films of 2013". Slant Magazine. The real central figure, in fact, is Gong Er (Zhang Ziyi), the daughter of a rival martial-arts master who, upon her father's murder, devotes her life to the single-minded pursuit of revenge...
  20. ↑ The Grandmaster (2013). Entertainment Weekly.
  21. ↑ "The Grandmaster Hong Kong Box Office". HK Neo Reviews. 2013-02-22. Retrieved 2013-02-22.
  22. ↑ The Weinstein Company Nabs Wong Kar Wai's 'The Grandmaster' Out of Berlin
  23. ↑ Berlin 2013: The Weinstein Co. Nabs U.S. Rights to Wong Kar-wai’s 'The Grandmaster'
  24. ↑ David Ehrlich. "Kung Foolish: How The American Cut of 'The Grandmaster' Ruins a Masterpiece". Film.com.
  25. ↑ Steve Pond. "Will Oscar Voters See the Wrong Version of 'The Grandmaster?'". The Wrap.
  26. ↑ Kenneth Turan. "Review: Wong Kar-wai's 'The Grandmaster' has great martial arts style". Los Angeles Times.
  27. ↑ Wong Kar Wai. "The Journey Of The Grandmaster". The Huffington Post.
  28. ↑ Alonso Duralde. "'The Grandmaster' Review: Sweeping, Gorgeous, Exciting – and Butchered – Taste of Kung Fu Legend Ip Man". The Wrap.
  29. ↑ Manohla Dargis. "Style and Kinetics Triumph in a Turbulent China". The New York Times.
  30. ↑ Walsh, Jason (15 January 2014). "Sound Editors Announce 2013 Golden Reel Nominees". Variety. Retrieved 15 January 2014.
  31. ↑ "'Gravity' and '12 Years a Slave' lead MPSE Golden Reel Awards nominations". HitFix. Retrieved 15 January 2014.
Wing Chun martial artists
Media franchise
Other films
TV series
Ip Man (2013)
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