The Grandmaster, reviewed: Rushed plot matches the speed of martial-arts master Ip Man’s movements
By Chris Knight
Published on 2013-08-23 in National Post
Sorry, chess fans. The Grandmaster is not the second film this year to revolve around the classic strategy game, after the bizarre ’80s-set Computer Chess. In fact, it could hardly be more different, although the element of strategy is definitely there.
The topic is the life of Ip Man, a famed martial artist whose legacy was passed along (albeit briefly) to none other than Bruce Lee. Since the man telling the story is writer/director Wong Kar-wai, we can be assured of some romantic longing and plenty of sterling cinematography amid the flying fists.
In fact, the film opens with a beautifully framed donnybrook in the rain, in which Ip Man (Tony Leung) bests a dozen opponents, all without losing the crease in his crisp white fedora. The credits accompany this scene, with one of the first names being action choreographer Yuen Woo-ping (Kill Bill, Kung Fu Hustle). Clearly, kinetic energy is gong to be even more important here than it was on your grade 12 physics final.
Soon enough we’re into flashback territory, with Ip Man describing his pampered upbringing in the Chinese city of Fushan, a time he recalls as “40 years of spring.” But it’s followed by a quick plunge into winter as the Second World War engulfs his homeland. Ip Man loses two daughters to famine during the conflict, but staunchly resists becoming an enemy collaborator.
The same cannot be said of Ma San (Zhang Jin), a duplicitous martial arts master from the north (every country has a north) who functions as a thorn in Ip Man’s side. Or, given the milieu, perhaps he’s a six-and-a-half-point blade in his side.
Wong presents Ip Man’s life as a kind of highlights reel. We witness his sublime powers when a rival challenges him to break a cake, and he does so with no more than the force of his reasoning. We see him move to Hong Kong after the war, penniless but carrying a fancy coat button to remind him of the old days, and determined to raise himself up again.
There’s also an understated, unrequited love affair with Gong Er (Zhang Ziyi), on a parallel quest to reclaim her family’s honour, besmirched by Ma San. At one point, this involves a fight in front of an apparently endless train that’s somehow managed to accelerate to fantastic speed even as it’s leaving the station. It’s like a math problem run amok, and an oddly magic-realist moment for what is meant to be a biopic.
But you take The Grandmaster on its own terms or not at all. Fans of Wong’s esthetic will no doubt lap it up, as it marks a return to some of his favourite actors; Leung has appeared in all but three of his 10 features, while Chang Chen, cast here as a character called The Razor, makes his third appearance.
It also puts the action back in China, after what many viewed as an ill-advised attempt by Wong to concoct an American road movie, 2007’s Blueberry Nights, starring Jude Law.
The version of this film opening in North America features editing changes that make it some 20 minutes shorter than the 130-minute original that opened the Berlin International Film Festival in February. That might explain why, in spite of its languorous love story, the plot often feels rushed. Then again, when you live on the cutting edge of martial artistry, it doesn’t do to move slowly.
http://arts.nationalpost.com/2013/08/23/the-grandmaster-reviewed-rushed-plot-matches-the-speed-of-martial-arts-master-ip-mans-movements/