'The Grandmaster' review: A meaningful martial-arts masterpiece

By Marc Mohan | Special to The Oregonian

Published on August 30, 2013 in The Oregonian

“Kung Fu is about precision,” says the legendary martial arts teacher Ip Man (Tony Leung) at one point in Wong Kar Wai’s sumptuous new film “The Grandmaster.” It’s also about grace, though, as demonstrated during the movie’s balletic fight scenes. The same combination of rigor and fluidity has always characterized Wong’s directorial style, making this a perfect onion of form of content. It’s a hugely welcome return to form for the Hong Kong director, making his first feature since the disappointment of 2007’s “My Blueberry Nights.” In 1936 Foshan, China, we meet Ip, already forty years old and married with two daughters. He’s also a master of Wing Chun, one of several Southern Chinese schools of martial arts. An aging master from the North, Gong Yutian (Qingxiang Wang) arrives to announce his retirement and to solicit a Southern champion to face off against his chosen Northern successor, Ma San (Jin Zhang). Ma San impulsively starts trouble and is sent home, so when the Southerners choose Ip Man as their representative, it’s Gong against whom he faces off.

Their showdown demonstrates, if it hadn’t already been clear, that “The Grandmaster” is a martial arts film that’s as concerned with the mentality behind mastery as it is about gravity-defying exploits of dexterity. It’s a philosophical contest, not a physical one, and yet as gripping as any Eagle’s Fist versus Monkey’s Claw battle. This is thanks in large part to Leung’s focused performance, and it’s heartening to be reminded that the actor who made his mark over twenty years ago in Wong’s early films, as well as those of John Woo, has become a commanding leading man.

The other great performance in “The Grandmaster” belongs to Zhang Ziyi, who plays Gong’s daughter, Gong Er. After her father declares him the winner of their contest, she challenges Ip Man to combat, which leads to the best fight scene in the film. Some of the early action sequences, especially an opening one in a rain-shrouded courtyard, have a bit too much of a “Matrix” feel to them, which is understandable, since famed action choreographer Yuen Woo Ping worked on that Hollywood film as well. But the one-on-one battle between Ip and Gong Er perfectly blends precision and grace, clarity and speed, subtlety and spectacle.

From this point on, “The Grandmaster” is as much about Gong Er as it is about Ip Man. Before long, the Sino-Japanese War tears Foshan apart, and after Japan’s eventual defeat, Ip moves to Hong Kong in 1950 to establish himself as a martial arts teacher. It was a crowded field at the time, so this entails more challenges in which Ip demonstrates his skill. There, he reconnects with his past in a way that movingly recalls the haunting would-be romance of Wong’s “In the Mood for Love.” For what it’s worth, the version of “The Grandmaster” being released in the United States has been re-edited by Wong from its original Chinese cut. It’s shortened by 22 minutes, and reportedly much of the historical context has been blatantly spelled out. This never feels like a dumbed-down American edition, nor does it lack for texture or cohesion, though you get the impression some of the supporting characters could have been fleshed out a bit more.

If this review of what is, I suppose, still classified as a kung fu movie doesn’t seem to dwell on the punching bits, it’s because, as splendid as they are, they’re only part of the appeal. Ip Man, best known in the West for being the guy who taught Bruce Lee, has been the subject of a recent wave of film biographies. Most of them, while enjoyable, have basically been excuses to build action movies around his life story. “The Grandmaster” doesn’t stint on the action, but also highlights the inherent serenity at the heart of all worthwhile martial arts.

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