The Grandmaster
Trailer for the ‘Grandmaster’.
Somehow I had missed this film, directed by Wong Kar-wai, since it came out in 2013.
A fellow student was kind enough to mention it.
It’s not a martial arts training movie, and conversely it is not bloodthirsty or needlessly graphic.
We do get significant glimpses of the baguazhang, xingyiquan and even bajiquan internal arts from the North, pitted against Wing Chun, the prevailing ‘external’ and Southern kung fu style showcased in the story.
The film opens in the 1930s in mainland China and centres around the not so friendly competition between the Northern and Southern styles…
Ip Man's peaceful existence is threatened by the arrival of Gong Yutian (Wang Qing Xiang), the Wudangquan martial arts grandmaster from northern China, who announces that he has already retired and appointed Ma San (Zhang Jin) as his heir in the North. He then concedes that the South should have its own heir. A fight erupts as various masters attempt to challenge Gong, but they are deterred by Ma San. As the Southern masters deliberate on a representative, Gong Yutian's daughter Gong Er (Zhang Ziyi) arrives and tries to convince her father not to continue the fight, as she feels the Southern masters are unworthy. Meanwhile, the Southern masters decide on Ip Man to represent them. Three Southern masters test Ip's skills before the confrontation with Gong Yutian.
— https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Grandmaster_(film)
The film concludes in Hong Kong in the 1950s, when the principal protagonist, our hero Ip Man (played by Tony Leung) had fled following the Sino-Japanese war, leaving his family behind, never to see them again.
There he starts teaching Wing Chun, in a very competitive market, and meets the young Bruce Lee, who goes on to be his student.
This sad story is very well told, is beautifully shot and is accompanied by a wonderful score.
It get’s a huge 👍🏻 from me.
Here in the UK, it is currently available through Amazon Prime.
I have included a ‘making of’ YouTube clip below.
Background material on the making of The Grandmaster.
Featured image is a picture of actor Zhang Ziyi, who plays Gong Er. Publicity material from the film.
