Yi dai zong shi/The Grandmasters (2013, Kar Wai Wong)

DISCOVER THE LEGEND OF IP MAN

Foshan in the 1930s: Ip Man (Tony Leung), a rich wing chun expert lived a quiet life with his family until he was trapped in a fight against another master and other people. Ip Man’s abilities got noticed and when another master, Gong Yutian was looking for a heir, the South appointed him as their representative.

Three masters put him to the test before he challenged Gong. It turned out not to be rather a ‘verbal’ than a physical fight. Gong Yutian was very impressed by Ip Man’s wit and declared him the winner. Furthermore, Ip got acquainted with Yutian’s daughter Gong Er (Ziyi Zhang) and the two of them kept a good relationship.

Gong Er (Ziyi Zhang) and Ip Man (Tony Leung)

But when the Second Sino-Japanese War broke out, Ip’s project to bring his family to the North fell through. He lost his fortune and his family. 

At the same time, Gong Yutian got killed by Ma San, the man who was supposed to be his heir. Although Yutian told everyone not to avenge him, Gong Er decided to chase him, found him and defeated him in a long and tiresome fight. She was heavily injured however.

Hong Kong in the 1950s: Ip Man and Gong Er met again. Ip expressed his interest in another contest and creating martial art schools but Gong Er refused. The last time they saw each other, Gong Er revealed that she had feelings for Ip all along. She died shortly after.

At the end of the film, we see Ip Man staring at a little boy, who, I presume, would be Bruce Lee.

Yi dai zong shi (french poster)

The first fight is spectacular (so are the others). Watching the guys moving in the rain, I couldn’t help myself from thinking of Neo and the Smiths inside the Matrix. The quality of the decor, the visual effects and the shooting is unquestionable. I particularly liked the way the director shot the duel involving Gong Er and Ip Man especially the scene where she was about to fall and held his arm, during a slow motion. However, be aware that the Grandmasters contains more philosophical ideas than action scenes, ergo, shows the kung fu as a battle of the wits among everything. That aspect could have made the film a masterpiece but the narration process almost ruins it.

Some imperfections due to the editing perhaps. While trying to give some style with flashbacks and flashforwards, Kar Wai Wong does not help the audience follow the storyline and the fact that we have to read the subtitles (I really should learn mandarin) makes the puzzle-assembling even harder. The supporting characters are underdeveloped. The connection between The Razor Yixiantian (Chen Chang) and the other characters, for instance, was not well established and we have the feeling that we have a story apart inside the movie. Too bad.

Yi dai zong shi/The Grandmasters is still a very good film though. I enjoyed it very much.

The Razor (Chen Chang)