The Grandmaster

[GeneChing]

We've discussed this a little on the Ip Man starring Donnie Yen thread (http://ezine.kungfumagazine.com/forum/showthread.php?t=52218), but now that it's out, this needs it's own stand alone thread. I was thinking of pulling posts over, but that's just too much work.


Gong Li to be female lead in Wong Kar Wai's "The Grand Master" (http://sg.news.yahoo.com/xin/20090212/ten-608-gong-li-female-lead-wong-kar-wai-3c1b9bc.html)
Xin.sg - Thursday, February 12

Ip Chun, son of Wing Chun's grandmaster Ip Man, said, Wong Kar Wai's version of movie "Ip Man" will start its shooting in June this year and Gong Li may be the female lead of the movie instead of Brigitte Lin. However, Gong will not be acting as Ip Man's wife but a female master of another form of martial art from Foshan.
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In Wong's version of the movie, titled "The Grand Master", Ip Man's wife will not be featured. If this is true, Lin, who was initially rumored to be taking on the role, will not be making appearance. However, Ip Chun was caution with his words during the interview and said that Wong has not finalized his script and Gong's role has yet to be confirmed.

Ip Chun expressed regret that Donnie Yen's version of "Ip Man" was not filmed in Foshan; he also said he will attempt to get Wong to film "The Grand Master" in Foshan so as to drive tourism to the area.

Ip thus invited Wong to Foshan to experience their rich martial arts culture and for research purposes.

Male lead of "The Grand Master" Tony Leung verified in an interview with Hong Kong media that the film will be shot in June. "My current task is to be practicing Wing Chun diligently," he said.

With respect to the comparison between Yen and himself, Leung was humble and said that his skills cannot be compared to Yen. "I believe that Wilson Yip and Wong Kar Wai's versions will be very different as they have different strengths and skills in moviemaking," Leung said

[GeneChing]

Maybe I should pull those other posts over...

Retired Actress Returns to Martial-Arts Film (http://english.cri.cn/6666/2009/05/19/1261s485790.htm)
2009-05-19 16:28:56 CRIENGLISH.com Web Editor: Xie Tingting

Actress Brigitte Lin, who retired in 1994 after playing many impressive roles, is set to make a comeback in a new biopic about martial-arts master Yip Man.

Lin has signed on to star in director Wong Kar-Wai's "The Great Master", Chinese media cited Yip Man's son, Yip Chun, as saying.

"The Great Master" is another film about Yip Man (1893-1972), a master of the Wing Chun style of martial arts and mentor to Bruce Lee. A previous biopic on the martial-arts master, "Ip Man", won the Best Film award at this year's Hong Kong Film Awards.

Known to audiences for her transgender roles in martial-arts movies, Brigitte Lin is likely to play a female kung-fu master this time, although her exact role is yet to be confirmed.

Born in Taiwan in 1954, Lin had been a frequent face in Hong Kong films. She had starred in more than 100 movies over 21 years.

In 1994, Lin married businessman Michael Ying and announced her retirement soon after.

Lin's best-known characters include Dong Fang Bu Bai in Stanley Tong and Siu-Tung Ching's cooperation "Swordsman II" (1991), and Mu-Rong Yin in Wong Kar-Wai's "Ashes of Time" (1994).

Last year, Lin made a rare public appearance in New York, promoting a re-edited version of "Ashes of Time". She told reporters that many of her friends, including Wong Kar-Wai, had been persuading her to return. She said she was waiting for a good play.

The Yip Man biopic is not going to be the sole project on Lin's agenda. Rumors suggest that director Tsui Hark has invited Lin to star in his action thriller "Di Renjie". Tsui Hark is also planning a biopic about Lin herself.

[Shaolinlueb]

gong li may be 43, but she is beautiful. why do chinese always need to redo movies that jsut come out. this isnt the first time i have seen it done.

[doug maverick]

gong li may be 43, but she is beautiful. why do chinese always need to redo movies that jsut come out. this isnt the first time i have seen it done.

actually its not being redone, wong kar wai has been talking about a yip man film for over ten years. but after yip/yens film he kicked it into high gear.

[GeneChing]

Remember 1997 when Volcano and Dante's Peak came out at the same time? I had a buddy working on one of those films and he said half way through, half the production team went over to the other project. What about 1998 when both A Bug's Life and Antz hit the screens? Those were just blatant examples but it happens often in Hollywood too.

[doug maverick]

well as far as bio pics go. they are literally four different films about pablo escobar currently in production.

[Shaolinlueb]

**** dudes. i enver thought about it like that. lol

[CLFNole]

Yeah I think Wyatt Earp and Tombstone came out around the same time. Nobody could match Val Kilmer's Doc Holiday.

[GeneChing]

That's gotta suck for the kung fu instructor who kicked him. He probably won't work in film again for a while...

Tony Leung breaks arm in training for kung fu film (http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5isAHDAKxcJ0weGZbMSqwsVvJ6jgwD99E5JI81)
By MIN LEE – 6 hours ago

BEIJING (AP) — Cannes best actor winner Tony Leung Chiu-wai broke his left arm while sparring with martial arts instructors as he prepared to portray Bruce Lee's kung fu master in a Wong Kar-wai movie, a publicist said Tuesday.

One of the kung fu instructors kicked Leung during a practice session on Monday, breaking a bone in his left forearm, Agnes Leung, a publicist at Wong's production house Jettone Films, told The Associated Press in a phone interview.

Leung must rest his arm for several weeks but can continue to train on his kicks, she said.

Wong's movie about Ip Man, who trained Lee for five years when he was a teenager, was tentatively scheduled to start shooting in September but might be delayed depending on Leung's recovery, she said.

Wong's biopic will be the second about Ip in recent years. Hong Kong action star Donnie Yen played Ip in a 2008 Wilson Yip film named for the pioneering martial arts master.

Wong's version is being closely watched because it marks a rare departure by the Cannes-winning director from the art-house fare for which he is best known.

The director's most recent film and his English-language debut, "My Blueberry Nights," starred singer Norah Jones, Jude Law, Rachel Weisz, Natalie Portman and David Strathairn.

Leung is known for playing subdued characters like the melancholy writer who had a love affair with a married woman in Wong's "In the Mood for Love." That performance won him best actor honors at the Cannes Film Festival in 2000. He most recently starred in John Woo's two-part Chinese historical epic "Red Cliff."

[doug maverick]

just read this over on wenn news...but they say its the other tony lueng, and not the one who is playing ip man. but one who is supposedly playing bruce lee. interesting

[GeneChing]

Not very informative but it made the AP...

Leung: Wong Kar-Wai's Kung Fu Biopic Action-Packed (http://abcnews.go.com/Entertainment/wireStory?id=9724040)
By MIN LEE AP Entertainment Writer
HONG KONG February 2, 2010 (AP)
The Associated Press

Hong Kong art-house filmmaker Wong Kar-wai is known for his slow, moody dramas, so when he announced his next project would be a kung fu flick, some were worried it would be more tears and talking than fists of fury.

But the film's star, Cannes-winning actor Tony Leung Chiu-wai, admitted Tuesday that when filming of "The Grand Master" started, the action was so fast-paced that he "almost couldn't hang in there."

"This is a genuine kung fu movie," Leung said at a news conference, adding "there really will be many action scenes."

Leung is starring as the late Ip Man, a pioneer in promoting the wing chun style of kung fu who coached Bruce Lee in his teenage years. Wong's biopic is the second similar movie in recent years. Hong Kong director Wilson Yip's "Ip Man" was a hit in 2008, starring Donnie Yen.

Leung, however, promised it would be a very different take on the martial arts master.

It's guaranteed to be a sharp change in genre for Wong, whose films have drawn Hollywood admirers like Nicole Kidman and Sofia Coppola. His credits include "As Tears Go By," "Chungking Express," "Happy Together" and "In the Mood for Love." "Happy Together" won him best director at the Cannes Film Festival in 1997.

His most recent film was the 2007 English-language release "My Blueberry Nights." Wong's English debut marked singer Norah Jones' first movie and drew an ensemble cast featuring Jude Law, Rachel Weisz, David Strathairn and Natalie Portman.

"The Grand Master" is now shooting in China with a cast that also includes Chinese actress Zhang Ziyi and South Korean Song Hye-kyo.

Leung won best actor at Cannes in 2000 for playing a newspaper editor who has an affair with a married woman in "In the Mood for Love."

[GeneChing]

Doesn't IP MAN 2 (http://ezine.kungfumagazine.com/forum/showthread.php?t=56421)open in a month or so? The Grand Master is going to have to knock one out of the ballpark to come out of Donnie's shadow now.


Tony Leung's surgery causes further delays in 'Grand Master' (http://www.channelnewsasia.com/stories/entertainment/view/1039797/1/.html)
Posted: 25 February 2010 1143 hrs

HONG KONG: Hong Kong actor Tony Leung is preparing to undergo surgery after doctors found that his old arm injury was not healing properly.

The 47-year-old actor broke a bone in his left arm in an accident during a martial arts practice session for martial arts film "The Grand Master" in July last year.

Leung's surgery will delay shooting of "The Grand Master" yet again.

"The Grand Master", Hong Kong director Wong Kar Wai's film about Bruce Lee's martial arts teacher Ip Man, has been beset by a whole host of complications since its inception in 2002.

In 2004, Leung, who plays Ip Man, was slated to begin martial arts training for his role in the film. However, Leung suffered a ski injury and had to rest for six months, causing filming for "The Grand Master" to be pushed back.

In 2006, Wong became busy with "My Blueberry Nights" while Leung had no time to do "The Grand Master" as he was involved in "Lust, Caution" and "Red Cliff", leading to further delays.

Over the past few months, Chinese actress Zhang Ziyi, who plays the female lead in the film, became embroiled in a number of high-profile scandals. This forced the production team to spend time adjusting Zhang's involvement in the film.

After finally getting a permit from the provincial government to shoot in Guangdong, China, filming was recently delayed again by exceptionally bad weather.

Plagued by mishaps and delays, Wong was beaten to the punch by Hong Kong producer Raymond Wong, who released the similarly themed film "Ip Man" in 2008. Following the box office success of the first film, the sequel "Ip Man 2" will be released later this year, while Wong continues to struggle to complete "The Grand Master".

[MasterKiller]

Sin The' is gonna sue them for taking his movie title!

[David Jamieson]

My Blueberry Nights? really? From that to a yip man flick?

Was my blueberry nights a straight to 8 track release or something?

[GeneChing]

Off one of Cung's fb pages (http://www.facebook.com/cung.le):

Spending the next 3 days with my family before I leave to China to film Grandmaster with director Wong Kar Wai and action director Woo-ping. Already miss them.

[Shaolinlueb]

Sin The' is gonna sue them for taking his movie title!

no one wants to see a movie about him.

[GeneChing]

Posters of The Grandmasters released (http://www.china.org.cn/arts/2010-11/01/content_21248167.htm)
CRI, November 1, 2010

http://images.china.cn/attachement/jpg/site1007/20101101/000d87ad41a00e38b9201e.jpg
Zhang Ziyi in "The Grandmasters" [Photo: Sohu.com]

The producers of Wong Kar-Wai's martial-arts film The Grandmasters (Yi Dai Zong Shi) have released two posters of the film featuring lead actors Tony Leung and Zhang Ziyi, Sohu.com reports.

Leung plays Yip Man in Wong's take on this master of the martial art of Wing Chun, who is better known as Bruce Lee's mentor. Yip Man's story has been popularized in recent years in several other biopics, the most famous being Wilson Yip's Ip Man series starring Donnie Yen.

Unlike Yen who himself is a trained martial artist, Leung had to learn Wing Chun from scratch, according to Sohu.com. But what moviegoers will see in The Grandmasters is a Leung who imparts the essence of Wing Chun, said Yuen Woo-Ping, the film's action choreographer who was the stunt advisor of the Kill Bill series.

Another poster shows Zhang Ziyi in a kung fu position, although her character is still under wraps.

Both Zhang and Leung have sustained injuries during the filming with Zhang's injury forcing her withdrawal from the film Snow Flower and the Secret Fan.

Information about the release date of The Grandmasters was not included on the posters.

http://images.china.cn/attachement/jpg/site1007/20101101/000d87ad41a00e38b9051d.jpg
"The Grandmasters" poster featuring Tony Leung [Photo: Sohu.com]

I exchanged a few emails with Cung. He was excited to be working with Woo Ping...again! I'll see him this weekend at Born to Fight (http://cungle.com/upload/newsarticles/188/btf_mma_nov2010_poster.pdf).

[doug maverick]

having tony leung, zhang ziyi, wong kar wai, and yeun woo ping all attached to this film gives it great cross over appeal, these are name that the foreign press knows. and zhang ziyi and yeun woo ping are known names here in america, tony leung as well but by an older generation. so we might actually see this get a nice release here.

[blackjesus]

Tony Leung's stunt double is an Aussie from Melbourne! :-D

http://www.ultimatemartialarts.com.au/en/Home/tabid/38/EntryId/10/Wong-Kar-Wais-The-Grandmasters-and-SiFu-as-Stunt-Double-for-Tony-Leung.aspx

I used to train with Sifu Henry Araneda in Melbourne for Hung Gar.
He also teaches Duncan Leung style of Wing Chun in Melbourne.

[Phil Redmond]

It's common knowledge the Bruce Lee was introduced to Yip Man by William Cheung and was instrumental with Bruce's WC development as was WSL.
In this article by Wong Shun Leung http://www.wongvingtsun.co.uk/wslbl.htm
Wong says that "...Chang (Cheung) brought in an Elvis like youngster..." to Yip Man's school. In the 2nd Ip Man movie William Cheung, who introduced Bruce Lee to Yip Man, was not mentioned because of WC politics. They just show a little Bruce Lee walk into Yip Man's room. Yeah, I know it's not a documentary but only a movie. Rant over.

[blackjesus]

And Bruce Lee bought Duncan Leung to Yip Man. :-D

[Phil Redmond]

And Bruce Lee bought Duncan Leung to Yip Man. :-D
Duncan was my Sifu so I know a little about what happened. It was after William Cheung had a fight with some sailors on a ship from HK to OZ that made Duncan want to learn WC.http://members.tripod.com/wing_chun/

[Niersun]

It's common knowledge the Bruce Lee was introduced to Yip Man by William Cheung and was instrumental with Bruce's WC development as was WSL.
In this article by Wong Shun Leung http://www.wongvingtsun.co.uk/wslbl.htm
Wong says that "...Chang (Cheung) brought in an Elvis like youngster..." to Yip Man's school. In the 2nd Ip Man movie William Cheung, who introduced Bruce Lee to Yip Man, was not mentioned because of WC politics. They just show a little Bruce Lee walk into Yip Man's room. Yeah, I know it's not a documentary but only a movie. Rant over.

Common Knowledge yes, but people still will refute it. I have argued with others previously as they beleive the article refers to Sifu Hawkins Cheung.

[Phil Redmond]

Common Knowledge yes, but people still will refute it. I have argued with others previously as they beleive the article refers to Sifu Hawkins Cheung.
Then they don't know their history. It's also common knowledge that William Cheung's father was a high HK Police official as it says in the WSL article. Hawkin's dad wasn't a high Police Official.

[blackjesus]

Duncan was my Sifu so I know a little about what happened. It was after William Cheung had a fight with some sailors on a ship from HK to OZ that made Duncan want to learn WC.http://members.tripod.com/wing_chun/


Duncan was my Sifu so I know a little about what happened. It was after William Cheung had a fight with some sailors on a ship from HK to OZ that made Duncan want to learn WC.http://members.tripod.com/wing_chun/

Hi Phil!
I read that article long time ago. But I also read the bruce lee story on the Wing Chun Warrior book (the one about Sifu Ducan Leung - http://www.kungfumagazine.com/forum/showthread.php?t=32483) but I'm not a Wing Chun student so what do I know?

Chapter 9 (I'm just "translating it form my Chinese editon of the book) said Burce Lee and sifu leung is childhood friend/classmate and one day in 1955 Burce told him he learnt Wing Chun, A kung fu invented by a woman and shown him Siu Lim Tau and they spared. He was punched by Burce many time and that was the 1st time Burce Lee won since they spar. And burce suggested Sifu Leung to learn together. Yip Man asked him if he know Kung Fu.
Sifu Leung shown Yip Man his Hung Kuen. Yip Man said his stance is good and told him to bring 8 bucks and join the school.

[Phil Redmond]

Hi Phil!
I read that article long time ago. But I also read the bruce lee story on the Wing Chun Warrior book (the one about Sifu Ducan Leung - http://www.kungfumagazine.com/forum/showthread.php?t=32483) but I'm not a Wing Chun student so what do I know?

Chapter 9 (I'm just "translating it form my Chinese editon of the book) said Burce Lee and sifu leung is childhood friend/classmate and one day in 1955 Burce told him he learnt Wing Chun, A kung fu invented by a woman and shown him Siu Lim Tau and they spared. He was punched by Burce many time and that was the 1st time Burce Lee won since they spar. And burce suggested Sifu Leung to learn together. Yip Man asked him if he know Kung Fu.
Sifu Leung shown Yip Man his Hung Kuen. Yip Man said his stance is good and told him to bring 8 bucks and join the school.
Wong Shun Leung is both Bruce Lee's and my Sifu's senior. So that history is whack.

[blackjesus]

I'm sorry but guess you misunderstood me.
What I'm saying is Bruce Lee introduced Wing Chun to Sifu (Duncan) Leung. I didn't say anything about sifu Wong Shun Leung.

The story is on the Wing Chun Warrior book which sold on Sifu Duncan Leung's site.

Again, I didn't say anything bout Wong Shun Leung.

[blackjesus]

First trailer:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dlMHFlJJxUg

[SimonM]

First trailer looks poorly lit and monochromatic but, you never know, it could be good. ;)

[blackjesus]

I reckon it is a bit Matrix-ish. Yuen Woo Ping, you know.
Also, Wong Kar-Wai's movies are more abstract than the normal kung fu movies.

like this:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XFh55NaFVLc

[SimonM]

Was not a fan of Ashes of Time. Killing the pace of your story doesn't make it more profound, it's just clumsy storytelling.

[doug maverick]

the trailer is, but i refuse to post it..i was very disapointed with....they ip manifide it.. which may sound weird. basically instead of the artsy bio pic we thought this was gonna be its just another folk hero chop socky movie. death to the foreign devils propaganda bull$****.

[GeneChing]

That's the word of the day today! ip manifide. Looks almost latin, especially if I italicize it.
ip manifide.
See what I mean? ;)

Honestly, I think Grandmaster has no choice but to capitalize on Ip Man (http://ezine.kungfumagazine.com/forum/showthread.php?t=52218) in the early trailer. Gotta grab some eyeballs and get some buzz.

[GeneChing]

Anticipated films lock China dates (http://www.filmbiz.asia/news/anticipated-films-lock-china-dates)
By Stephen Cremin
Wed, 18 April 2012, 09:15 AM (HKT)
Distribution News

Three long-awaited films have finally locked their China release dates after months of speculation.

WONG Kar-wai 王家衛's martial arts drama The Grandmasters 一代宗師 will open on 18 Dec, WEI Te-sheng 魏德聖's war epic Warriors of the Rainbow: Seediq Bale 賽德克・巴萊 on 10 May, and Dayyan ENG 伍仕賢's black comedy Inseparable 形影不離 on 4 May 2012.

The opening of the still-in-production The Grandmasters in mid-December puts it in the midst of one of the most competitive slots in China's releasing calendar. It will likely go head-to-head with Ang LEE 李安's Life of Pi, while Jackie CHAN 成龍's Chinese Zodiac 十二生肖, which opens 12 Dec, is still on release.

Warriors, which opened in Taiwan in Sep 2011 in two parts, was submitted to the State Administration of Radio, Film & Television (SARFT) 國家廣播電影電視總局 in December in its new international version with additional cuts made for violence. Further cuts were demanded last month.

Inseparable, which stars Kevin SPACEY opposite Daniel WU 吳彥祖, had its world premiere at the Busan International Film Festival 부산국제영화제 in Oct 2011. It opens in China one day before The Avengers and after a slew of late April films from local directors.

Next week, NING Hao 寧浩's Guns and Roses 黃金大劫案 goes head-to-head with Leon YANG 楊樹鵬's An Inaccurate Memoir 匹夫 on 24 May, followed four days later by the release of GUAN Hu 管虎's Design of Death 殺生. All are competing with each other and Hollywood films.

Alien invasion film Battleship opened at midnight today in China, 18 Apr, two days before originally scheduled. It is itself struggling to secure screening slots from Titanic (1997), which had taken RMB467 million ($74.2 million) by Sunday night after just six days on release. PRC got Battleship a month before we will? Interesting...

[doug maverick]

im king shocked that titanic made 74.2million...yea no wonder hollywood wants in...lol...battleship hasnt tested well here...so they are releasing it foreign to build up momentum...they did the same thing with thor...

[GeneChing]

...been wondering what was up with this...

Zhang Ziyi Finally Finishes her Part in "The Grandmasters" (http://www.chinesefilms.cn/141/2012/07/18/122s10749.htm)
2012-07-18 10:40:08 Chinese Films

http://www.chinesefilms.cn/mmsource/images/2012/07/18/b44d0dac016b44919f7e5b987671dce0.jpg
Zhang Ziyi celebrated Wong Kar-wai's birthday on the set of "The Grandmasters." [Photo: weibo]

According the Beijing News, Chinese movie superstar Zhang Ziyi finally finished her part in Wong Kar-Wai's Kung Fu blockbuster "The Grandmasters" after three years of shooting.

The actress posted a picture on her Weibo page yesterday and announced the news. In the picture, the production team was celebrating Wang's 54th birthday. Zhang missed many promotional events for her Sino-South Korean coproduction "Dangerous Liaisons" for the movie.

Sil-Metropole Organization Ltd., the production company for the movie, unveiled last year that the movie is set to release on December 18, 2012. Many doubt the date due to Wang's famous slow shooting pace. The director famously changes his mind after he finishes shooting. His cast members have to return to the set to reshoot their parts.

One official from the company confirmed that "The Grandmasters" is certain to be released during this year's Christmas slot.

By Chen Nan

[GeneChing]

Wong Kar Wai - The Grandmasters #1 trailer (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8Ngxn9NzLzs)

[doug maverick]

here is a link to a mini doc on the movie unfortunately there are no sub titles. this movie is confusing me..while it seems to be about ip man, the title "the grandmasters" and the trailer show that its about many different styles of kung fu,

http://www.wongkarwai.net/the-road-to-the-grandmasters-documentary-and-a-new-poster-are-released/


so far... im still on the fence about it.

[GeneChing]

So much for Dec 18...

Wong Kar-Wai's 'Grandmasters' Bumped to 2013 (http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/news/wong-kar-wais-grandmasters-bumped-394940)
11:19 PM PST 11/27/2012 by Clarence Tsui

HONG KONG – Amidst rumors of ongoing additional shoots, Wong Kar-wai’s martial arts drama The Grandmasters will now be released on mainland China and Hong Kong on Jan. 8, 2013 – three weeks after the original date.

Nearly 10 years in the making, The Grandmasters is set in 1920s and '30s China and revolves around a young Ip Man, the legendary martial arts expert who would later become the mentor of Bruce Lee. The film stars Hong Kong’s Tony Leung Chiu-wai (In the Mood for Love, Infernal Affairs) as Ip, and also features mainland actress Zhang Ziyi and Taiwan’s Chang Chen.

In June, The Grandmasters were slapped with a Dec. 18 release date on mainland China, with a Hong Kong opening confirmed later for Dec. 27. When reports of Wong still filming additional scenes appeared in the local media last week, one of the film’s co-producers, Sil-Metropol's Song Dai, insisted Wong’s film would hit Chinese cinemas “within this year."

But a spokesman for the production confirmed the 2013 release date, which first appeared on a new series of publicity poster. The delay is to “give directors enough time to release his energy," said the publicist to the newspaper Apple Daily.

Wong has been well-known for spending a long time finishing his films and his tendency of not adhering to production deadlines. The most legendary episode was in 2004, when the director was still working on the editing of his Cannes entry 2046 days before the premiere of the film; copies were reportedly transported to the cinemas straight from the labs.

Rumors of a Cannes berth for The Grandmasters have been circulating for years, so the announcement this summer of the film opening in December – which meant the absence of a world premiere at any of the main film festivals – was a surprise.

With Wong serving as head of the jury at Berlinale 2013, however, expectations are high for The Grandmasters to make its international premiere as an out-of-competition entry at the festival. There were even rumours of the film making its way to Cannes in May in some altered form – and Wong has had a previous record of achieving this, when he unleashed the “redux” version of his 1994 martial arts film Ashes of Time on the Croisette in 2008.

[doug maverick]

well considering this is now called "grandmasters" and not "the grandmaster" and that yip man is just one of the characters and not the main character...there should be a title change. idk...the trailer and all the info point to a martial arts film noir, which could be cool...but again idk. the trailers have been uninspiring to say the least.

[GeneChing]

Title changed.

It's that Wong Kar Wai factor plus the cast that is giving this film such buzz. Personally, I've never been a huge WKW fan, but I know a lot of film people that just go nuts over him. We'll see. ;)

[GeneChing]

Wong was waiting for an international festival to premiere it at - what better one than one where he's the president? :rolleyes:

Wong Kar Wai’s The Grandmaster to open Berlin film festival (http://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/films/news/wong-kar-wais-the-grandmaster-to-open-berlin-film-festival-8425662.html)
Matilda Battersby
Wednesday 19 December 2012
http://www.independent.co.uk/incoming/article8425665.ece/ALTERNATES/w460/20130137_8_klein.jpg
The Grandmaster will open next year’s Berlin International Film Festival as its
international premiere.

Directed by Wong Kar Wai, president of this year’s festival jury, the film is set against the tumultuous backdrop of 1930s China.

The film is inspired by Yip Man, legendary grandmaster of the martial art Wing Chun and master to Bruce Lee, about whom at least three films (Wilson Yip’s Ip Man and Ip Man 2, and Herman Yau’s Legend Is Born – Ip Man) have already been made.

The Grandmaster’s title was changed from Grandmaster Ip Man after it was discovered that it and another Ip Man film were being made totally separately at around the same time.

Wong’s film was originally intended for release in 2011 but it was plagued by production issues with three years of film production following almost a decade of preparation.

The film stars Tony Leung Chiu Wai who has appeared in a number of films directed by Wong, including Days of Being Wild and Happy Together. Co-stars include Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon actors Ziyi Zhang and Chang Chen, Happy Times’ Zhao Benshan and A Woman, A Gun and A Noodle Shop actor Xiao Shengyang.

“It is a special honour for us to open the 2013 Berlinale with the presentation of the newest film by this year's jury president, WONG Kar Wai. With The Grandmaster, Kar Wai has added a new and exciting facet to his body of works, and created an artful, visually powerful genre film,” says festival director Dieter Kosslick.

The world premiere of The Grandmaster will be on 8 January 2013 in China, and the film will open at cinemas in numerous countries worldwide in spring 2013.

Matt Damon film Promised Land is set to compete in this year's Berlin film festival competition. The film, which is also having its international premiere at the festival, will vie against five other movies in Berlin’s official competition next February.

[GeneChing]

I actually prefer longer movies. It comes from watching too much Bollywood. However, an excessively long Wong Kar Wai flick might do me in. While I respect Ashes of Time (http://ezine.kungfumagazine.com/forum/showthread.php?t=52184), I don't think I could have sat through it if it was much longer than it already was.


Wong Kar-Wai's 'The Grandmaster' Running Time Will Test Patience For Those Who Think Movies Are Too Long Now (http://blogs.indiewire.com/theplaylist/wong-kar-wais-the-grandmaster-running-time-will-test-patience-for-those-who-think-movies-are-too-long-now-20130102)
by Kevin Jagernauth
January 2, 2013 5:17 PM
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This awards season, certain corners of the internet have been complaining that movies are just too darn long. "Zero Dark Thirty," "Django Unchained," "Les Miserables," "Lincoln," "Amour" and "This Is 40" all broke the 2 hour mark. And some fidgety reporters who seemingly can't sit still for more than a couple hours will be disappointed that one of 2013's most eagerly awaited movies will test their bathroom break-timing.

Over on Twitter, Love HK Film editor Kevin Ma has pointed over to Hong Kong's Newport Circuit theater site, which reveals the runtime for Wong Kar-Wai's "The Grandmaster" as 133 minutes. It makes it his second longest film behind "2046," so don't order the jumbo soda, guys. The film has been a long time coming, featuring for the past five years on our Most Anticipated Movies list and being delayed each time for a variety of reasons. But it's coming for real in 2013: opening in China next week on January 8th, and making an international bow in February at the Berlin Film Festival.

As for when it will reach our shores? Who knows. Annapurna Pictures has the rights, but no U.S. distribution deal has been struck yet.

[GeneChing]

last minute drama queen. :rolleyes:

Wong Kar-wai in Last-Minute Rush to Finish 'The Grandmaster' For World Premiere (Report) (http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/news/wong-kar-wais-grandmaster-director-408355)
8:33 PM PST 1/3/2013 by Clarence Tsui

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The Hong Kong auteur is still putting final touches to his martial arts epic, with the film to be delivered to mainland Chinese censors hours before its first press screening in Beijing on Jan. 5

HONG KONG – Producers of Wong Kar-wai’s The Grandmaster will be transporting the film for clearance with mainland China’s censors on the morning of Jan. 5 – just hours before a scheduled press screening in Beijing in the afternoon.

According to Hong Kong newspaper Apple Daily, Wong is still working on the film’s post-production in Thailand today (Jan. 4) with his production designer William Chang Suk-ping.

The report stated that the film’s financiers and distributors, Sil-Metropole Organisation, will deliver copies of the film to the Film Bureau in Beijing to secure a screening license in the country. The film will also be submitted to the Communications Authority in Hong Kong for a film classification in the city.

The world premiere of The Grandmaster will take place in the Chinese capital on Sunday (Jan. 6), with Wong attending a press conference beforehand with stars Tony Leung Chiu-wai, Zhang Ziyi and Chang Chen. The film will then be released on Jan. 8, and then subsequently opening in Hong Kong, Wong’s hometown, on Jan. 10.

The Grandmaster was originally slated for release in China and Hong Kong in December. While the cast has been doing publicity for more than a month already, Wong has yet to grant interviews to the press. His assistants have responded to media requests saying the filmmaker remains busy at work finishing the movie, which will open the Berlin Film Festival – where Wong will serve as head of the official competition jury – on Feb. 7.

Sil-Metropole has already put in a place a 300-strong team ready to deliver digital prints to theatres across China once the film is green-lit by the authorities, according to the Apple Daily report.

The Grandmaster will be the sole major production to be released in China next week, and is widely expected to have a clear run at the box office before Skyfall opens on Jan. 21. The performance of Wong’s film will challenge the successful runs of festive hits Lost in Thailand and CZ12. The former has already secured 1.1 billion yuan (US$176.5 million) at the box office and is now vying to become the highest-grossing film in Chinese history, a record presently held by Avatar (which took 1.38 billion yuan/US$221.4 million in the country).

Nearly a decade in the making, The Grandmaster is a fictionalized account of the early career of Ip Man, a real-life martial arts expert and the mentor of Bruce Lee. Details of the story have been scarce but the film is understood to revolve around the rivalry and romance between Ip (played by Leung) and specialists from other martial arts schools in northeastern China.

While boasting a stellar cast and action choreography from Yuen Woo-ping (who designed fight scenes for Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon and the Matrix trilogy), production of the film has been subjected to a few hiccups, with Leung having broken his arm while training for his role before shooting began.

True to style, Wong has also subsequently conducted additional filming after principal shooting has ended, while also requiring his actors to be on stand-by for possible extra contributions to the film. Interestingly, Chang has spent so much time in practice that he became a real athlete himself, winning a mainland martial arts competition earlier this year.

With his films securing regular critical garlands in the film festival circuit – a Best Cinematography title for Ashes of Time (1994) in Venice, a Best director prize for Happy Together (1997) in Cannes and a Best Non-European Film gong for 2046 (2004) at the European Film Awards – Wong remains one of the most well-known auteurs to come out of Hong Kong in recent years.

The 54-year-old has become such an art-house brand that festival directors have given him much leeway in exchange for his films to take a bow at their events. The most memorable incident took place in 2004, when Cannes announced the inclusion of Wong’s erstwhile untitled (and unfinished) film in its official competition. The festival had to cancel the first screening of the film because Wong was unable to finish the film in time, and reports stated that a copy of the film was transported straight from the processing labs to the Grand Theatre Lumiere in time for its world premiere.

[GeneChing]

January 7, 2013, 2:23 PM
‘The Grandmaster’ Hits Theaters (http://blogs.wsj.com/scene/2013/01/07/the-grandmaster-hits-theaters/)
By Dean Napolitano

After more than a decade in the making, Wong Kar-wai’s ‘The Grandmaster’ finally makes its premiere.

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Wait no more.

Hong Kong director Wong Kar-wai’s long-anticipated epic “The Grandmaster,” starring Tony Leung Chiu-wai as the legendary real-life martial-arts master Ip Man, opens this week in China and Hong Kong. The film also stars Zhang Ziyi and Chang Chen.

Mr. Wong — the director of such films as “Days of Being Wild,” “Happy Together” and “In the Mood for Love” — devoted nearly a decade on preparation for “The Grandmaster,” which spent almost three years in production. The famously meticulous filmmaker appeared at a press conference with his cast on Sunday night in Beijing, where the film held its world premiere.

Mr. Wong said the film, which runs well over two hours, “could have last four hours, but I deleted a lot of scenes,” according to a report from Agence France-Presse.

The movie, set during China’s turbulent political and social period of the 1930s, is in both Mandarin and Cantonese.

International audiences will have to wait a bit longer before getting a first peek. “The Grandmaster” will open next month’s 63rd Berlin International Film Festival, where Mr. Wong is this year’s jury president. I started watching some old WKW flicks on netflix. I'm still underwhelmed by his work. I see the artsy-ness of it all, but it still doesn't quite work for me personally.

[GeneChing]

Hong Kong art house director Wong Kar Wai back with kung fu epic (http://www.reuters.com/article/2013/01/09/entertainment-us-wongkarwai-idUSBRE90805G20130109)

http://s1.reutersmedia.net/resources/r/?m=02&d=20130109&t=2&i=692303702&w=460&fh=&fw=&ll=&pl=&r=CBRE9080CID00
Hong Kong director Wong Kar-Wai removes confetti from his sunglasses after he beats a drum with cast members at the premiere of the movie ''The Grandmaster'' in Hong Kong January 8, 2013. REUTERS/Tyrone Siu

By Venus Wu
HONG KONG | Tue Jan 8, 2013 11:30pm EST

(Reuters) - Hong Kong art house director Wong Kar Wai, whose slow-paced, pensive films earned him laurels at international festivals such as Cannes, where he won best director, has just come out with "The Grandmaster," his latest kung fu epic.

The fruit of eight years of labor and selected as the opening movie for February's Berlin International Film Festival, The Grandmaster tells the legendary tale of Bruce Lee's master Yip Man, played by Wong's long-time collaborator and Cannes best actor award winner Tony Leung.

The concept of the movie hit Wong even before he released his most celebrated work, In The Mood for Love, back in 2000, said the director, wearing his trademark sunglasses, at the movie's Hong Kong premiere on Jan 8.

The idea kept brewing in his head and eventually took him on a three-year journey, knocking on the doors of over 100 kung fu masters across China.

"In the world of martial arts, there's a saying that goes -- 'the skies outside and inside the door are different,' he said.

"When you look at it outside the door, it will forever stay a mystery. But when you have a chance to put your head inside and take a peek, you then realize that (the world) inside draws you in," added Wong, who will also serve as the president of the jury for this year's Berlinale.

The auteur set his eyes on four martial art clans for his feature film, but stressed that he wanted to convey a common spirit shared by grandmasters and aficionados alike.

"In the world of martial arts, there are many people who are not 'masters', but they have a deep affection for martial arts. They always hope to leave something behind for their clan and martial arts during their lifetime," he said.

"I think this spirit is the spirit that 'The Grandmaster' wants to convey -- lingering thoughts that are never forgotten, echos that will always come," Wong said.

Set at the infancy of modern China in the early 1900s, the retirement of a martial arts guru leaves the title of Grandmaster up for grabs.

Among the four top fighters for the position is the feisty Gong Er, played by Zhang Ziyi of Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon and Memoirs of a Geisha.

For her role, Zhang trained under the teacher of kung fu star Jet Li, and said the movements were key to expressing the spirit of the characters.

"She (Gong Er) is a combination of almost all the unique features and merits of women of that era," Zhang said.

"In terms of movements, we trained for such a long time because the director hoped when we went inside the world of the characters, we already carried their spirit in our bodies."

Wong took the Best Director Award at Cannes in 1997 for "Happy Together," which depicts a tempestuous romance between two men and was also nominated for the Palme d'Or.

Plagued by delays, The Grandmaster finally made its global premiere in Beijing on Jan 6, and opened across China on Jan 8 before showing in Berlin on February 7.

(Reporting by Venus Wu, editing by Elaine Lies)

The critics are eating this up.

January 9, 2013, 6:54 PM
Wong Kar-wai Scores With ‘The Grandmaster’
By Dean Napolitano

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MediAdvertising (HK) Ltd.
Zhang Ziyi, center, stars as Gong Er in Wong Kar-wai’s ‘The Grandmaster.’ More photos

After a decade of preparation and three years of filming, Wong Kar-wai’s “The Grandmaster” opened in China on Tuesday, and any lingering questions over whether the movie would live up to its lofty expectations immediately evaporated.

Mr. Wong has made a martial-arts film for people who typically wouldn’t go to see an action movie, and an art-house film for audiences who resist ambiguity in their cinematic experiences.

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Associated Press
Tony Leung, Wong Kar-wai, Zhang Ziyi and Chang Chen at the Hong Kong premiere of ‘The Grandmaster’ on Jan. 8. More photos

Many of the kung-fu scenes are set in beautifully furnished parlor rooms that suggest the quiet intensity of a high-stakes chess game, but one in which the threats could mean life or death. It’s in these moments it becomes clear that Mr. Wong is showing his audience that kung fu is as much an intellectual pursuit as it is a sport of strength and physical superiority.

Fans of Mr. Wong, one of Asia’s most prominent filmmakers and a regular fixture on the international film-festival circuit, have been eagerly anticipating “The Grandmaster.” More than five years have passed since the Hong Kong director released his last full-length feature film, “My Blueberry Nights” starring Norah Jones, and it’s been nearly nine years since his last Chinese-language film, “2046.”

Critics were quick to praise “The Grandmaster.” Variety said the film “exceeds expectations,” while Twitch described it as “an action-packed visual feast.”

The movie follows the life of Ip Man, the real-life instructor of the Wing Chun style of kung fu, who was born in Foshan in 1893 and died in Hong Kong in 1972. (A young Bruce Lee was among his students, although his character doesn’t appear in the new film.)

Tony Leung Chiu-wai plays Ip Man; Zhang Ziyi stars as Gong Er, the daughter of a powerful martial-arts master from northern China and a kung-fu expert herself; and Chang Chen appears as a mysterious character named Razor. All three actors joined Mr. Wong at a press conference in a crowded Hong Kong shopping mall on Tuesday night for the local premiere.

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Dean Napolitano/The Wall Street Journal
Mr. Leung said the action part of the movie was ‘really tough.’ More photos

Mr. Leung, who is known primarily for his dramatic roles rather than action, told the Journal that preparing for the role was a challenge.

“The action part was really tough for me,” Mr. Leung said. “We started practicing a year-and-a-half before the movie began shooting. … But we trained during the shooting, so we trained like four years.”

“The character is very much different from what audiences have seen before,” he continued. “With the role this time, we are trying to mix up Bruce Lee and the real man — Ip Man — together.”

“The Grandmaster” takes place mainly from the late 1930s to the mid-1950s — a turbulent time in China’s history, but one that the film doesn’t dwell on — and focuses on Ip Man’s tentative friendship with Gong Er and his rivalry with other kung-fu masters and their followers. The story also explores the deep patience, obedience and discipline that kung fu demands on its teachers and students.

The Ip Man character has become an extremely popular — and profitable — movie character in recent years, most notably with 2008’s “Ip Man” and its 2010 sequel starring Hong Kong action star Donnie Yen.

“The Grandmaster” opens in Hong Kong on Thursday and in Taiwan next week, ahead of its European premiere on Feb. 7 as the opening film at the Berlin International Film Festival, where Mr. Wong is this year’s jury president. The movie will screen out of competition.

Though the film runs two hours and 10 minutes, Mr. Wong said earlier this week that it could have lasted four hours due to all the footage he shot, which suggests that audiences someday could see a longer “director’s cut.”

The Chinese movie industry will now turn its attention to box-office receipts for “The Grandmaster,” which took in 29.8 million yuan ($4.8 million) on its opening day Tuesday, according to media-research firm EntGroup. By comparison, “Lost in Thailand” pulled in 39.4 million on its first day on Dec. 12.

“Lost in Thailand” has earned 1.17 billion yuan as of Tuesday, making it the highest-grossing Chinese film ever in the domestic market, EntGroup said.

[GeneChing]

Posted: Tue., Jan. 8, 2013, 6:15pm PT
New Int'l. Release
The Grandmaster (http://www.variety.com/review/VE1117948960/)
Yidai zhongshi
(Hong Kong-China)
By Maggie Lee

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Tony Leung stars in Wong Kar Wai's actioner 'The Grandmaster'

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Zhang Ziyi co-stars in the 1930s martial arts pic.

A Sil-Metropole Organization, Jet Tone Prod. (in China/Hong Kong/Macau)/Annapurna Pictures (in North America) release of a Sil-Metropole Organization, Jet Tone Prod., Block 2 Pictures, Bona Intl. Film Group presentation of a Jet Tone Prod., Sil-Metropole Organization production. (International sales: Fortissimo Films, Amsterdam/Wild Bunch, Paris.) Produced by Wong Kar Wai, Jacky Pang. Executive producers, Chan Ye-cheng, Megan Ellison, Ng See-yuen, Song Dai. Directed by Wong Kar Wai. Screenplay, Wong, Xu Haofeng, Zou Jinzhi, based on a story by Wong.
With: Tony Leung Chiu-wai, Zhang Ziyi, Zhang Jin, Song Hye-kyo, Chang Chen, Wang Qingxiang, Cung Le, Lo Hoi-pang, Liu Xun, Leung Siu Lung, Julian Cheung Chi-lam. (Mandarin, Japanese dialogue)

Venturing into fresh creative terrain without relinquishing his familiar themes and stylistic flourishes, Hong Kong auteur Wong Kar Wai exceeds expectations with "The Grandmaster," fashioning a 1930s action saga into a refined piece of commercial filmmaking. 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. Wong's Eurocentric arthouse disciples, however, may not be completely in tune with the film's more traditional storytelling and occasionally long-winded technical exposition.

With a first-rate production package and glamorous casting, notably the luminous Zhang Ziyi trumping co-star Tony Leung Chiu-wai, Wong's 10th feature might be his first to win over a mass Chinese audience. Set to make its international bow as the opening-night entry at the Berlin Film Festival, where Wong will serve as jury president, the film has already sold to key markets through Fortissimo Films and the Wild Bunch. It's set to be released Stateside through Megan Ellison's Annapurna Pictures, with Ellison credited as a producer on the film.

Five years in the making and reportedly 16 years in gestation, "The Grandmaster" is the latest in a string of period chopsocky films ("Ip Man," "Ip Man 2," "The Legend is Born -- Ip Man") centering on the life of the martial-arts master who taught Bruce Lee and popularized the Wing Chun kung fu style around the world. However, Wong's interpretation stands apart from its predecessors by taking a less conventional biopic route. Offering an eye-opening pageant of martial-arts schools and their radically different exponents, the multistranded but generally linear narrative never dedicates itself entirely to charting Ip's achievements. Instead, by focusing on his encounters with other fighters, the film arrives at the enlightened realization that there is no single "grandmaster."

This idea is demonstrated in the opening sequence, when Ip (Leung) remarks: "Kung fu equals two words: horizontal and vertical. The one lying down is out; only the last man standing counts." Just turning 40 when the film begins in 1936, Ip is an entitled Cantonese gentleman of leisure who lives in Foshan, a popular hub for martial-arts experts from all over the country. This presents numerous opportunities for duels, and the film's entire first hour feels like a breathless succession of action sequences, accompanied by one-liners of worldly wisdom couched in kung-fu terminology.

Ip's most significant duel is with Gong Baosen, who has come from Dongbei (then Manchuria) to choose an opponent for one last fight before retirement. Gong's real intention is to discover young talent and bring it into the limelight, but his match with Ip is not resolved in a way that satisfies Gong's daughter, Er (Zhang) who is extremely proud of her family's invincible track record. She tries to teach Ip a lesson, which only brings them closer together.

Something bordering on mutual attraction develops, but the film leaves it oblique, their feelings merely hinted at by the poems they exchange throughout the story. Rather abruptly, the two are separated for more than a decade by war, and narrative interest shifts almost entirely to Er. Driven by the principles of honor that made her challenge Ip, she pits herself against Ma San (Zhang Jin), her father's defiant disciple, to defend the reputation of the Gong family. Er's initial pride is offset by a revelation of inner strength when she makes a great sacrifice in order to defeat Ma.

Years of extensive training for this film have enabled the protags to look extremely convincing as masters of their art. Zhang's moves combine grace and confidence, raising the bar from her perf in "Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon," but even in the dramatic scenes, she's the center of attention, limning extreme emotional changes as she undergoes a series of tragic upheavals.

By contrast, Leung, the helmer's frequent muse, lacks his usual intensity here: His Ip Man reveals few distinct characteristics in the early scenes except humility, and shows little emotional variation even as he falls on hard times. Even less satisfyingly handled is the peripheral character of Razor (Chang Chen), a violent and enigmatic drifter whose purpose in the story is so underexplained that he could easily have been excised, despite figuring into one fabulously shot and fought action scene.

Compared with the typically free-flowing structure of Wong's films, "The Grandmaster" is more straightforward and coherent, with only one (well-placed) flashback. While the fight scenes ensure there's hardly a lull in the first half, the second half feels hastily stitched together, rendering Ip's relations with his wife (South Korean thesp Song Hye-kyo) patchy.

Some of the helmer's artsy trademarks -- introspective soliloquies, the sense that the protags are trapped in stasis -- have been replaced by ideas more grounded in practical experience, with characters who don't hesitate to act. In developing a world of strict decorum that is nonetheless predicated on constant competition, Wong clearly benefited from the collaboration of co-scripter Xu Haofeng, here transplanting such elaborate fighting theories from his own films "The Sword Identity" and "Judge Archer" to less cryptic effect.

Having previously grappled with his personal experience as a Shanghai-to-Hong Kong emigre, the filmmaker here applies that theme to a broad historical canvas that deals with the Chinese diaspora and its impact on national identity and the continuity of cultural heritage. Even as the last quarter is suffused with the languid melancholy and heartbreaking loneliness that recalls "In the Mood for Love" and "Ashes of Time," unrequited love is represented in the context of two irreconcilable ways of life -- to survive by biding one's time, or to burn out by living in the moment.

Tech credits are aces, reflecting a stately, unified aesthetic with a stark palette dominated by blacks, whites and grays. Lensers Philippe Le Sourd ("7 Pounds") and Song Xiaofei ("Design of Death") accentuate balletic movement in the fight scenes by shooting from a dazzling variety of angles and at different speeds. They also contrast the austere beauty and expansiveness of Dongbei's snowy outdoors with the Western-influenced opulence of the South, as re-created in production designer William Chang's deliberately flashy interiors and costumes. Shigeru Umebayashi's sweeping classical score sometimes swells above the action and dwarfs its impact, but the use of regionally specific songs as period markers helps counter that effect.
Camera (color/B&W, widescreen), Philippe Le Sourd; editor, William Chang; music, Shigeru Umebayashi; production designer, Chang; art director, Tony Au; set decorator, Yuan Zi'an; costume designers, Chang, Lv Fengshan; sound (Dolby SRD), Chen Guang; supervising sound editor, Robert McKenzie; visual effects supervisor, Isabelle Perin-Leduc; visual effects, BUF Compagnie; action choreographer, Yuen Woo-ping; chief martial-arts consultant, Wu Bing; Wing Chun consultant, Ip Chun; line producer, Helen Li; associate producer, Michael Werner; second unit camera, Song Xiaofei. Reviewed at UA KK Mall, Shenzhen, China, Jan. 8, 2013. (In Berlin Film Festival -- opener, noncompeting.) Running time: 130 MIN.


Despite my dislike of WKW, I'm starting to get really excited for this film.

[GeneChing]

Review: THE GRANDMASTER Brings Class to the Ip Man Legend (http://twitchfilm.com/2013/01/review-the-grandmaster-ip-man.html)
James Marsh, Asian Editor

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Wong Kar Wai, Hong Kong Cinema's most prestigious auteur, finally delivers his long-gestating biopic of Wing Chun pioneer Ip Man, and it proves an action-packed visual feast. Light on narrative, but oozing Wong's trademark elegance, the film weaves the director's familiar themes of love, loss and the corrosive nature of time around some of the most gorgeous martial arts sequences ever filmed.

The Grandmaster has been a project so long in the works that for some it may qualify as the most-anticipated film of the new Millennium. It was way back in 2002 that Wong Kar Wai and leading man Tony Leung Chiu Wai called a press conference to declare their intentions. It was more than 18 months ago that the first teaser trailer for the film was released, featuring - as it transpires - footage from the film's opening scene: a rain-soaked street fight between a trilby-sporting Leung and a dozen faceless assailants. As recently as last month, the film's release date was pushed back (again) from 18 December to early January and Wong was still putting the final touches to the film mere hours before its world premiere in Beijing on 6 January.

The story begins in Foshan province, where at the age of 40, Ip Man (Tony Leung) is happily married to a beautiful, doting wife (Korean actress Song Hye-kyo), lives off a healthy inheritance, and has continued the family legacy of advocating Wing Chun, a simplified yet remarkably effective form of kung-fu. At the Golden Pavilion, a local brothel patronised by many of the region's finest martial artists, North-eastern Grandmaster Gong (Wang Qingxiang) challenges the best Southerner to a fight, before he returns North. After seeing off his rivals from the other local martial arts schools, Ip Man comes forward, only to demonstrate that intelligence and restraint can prove as powerful weapons as kung fu. Ip insists that Northern and Southern martial arts can co-exist peacefully, and Gong leaves humbled, yet satisfied.

Master Gong's daughter, Gong Er (Zhang Ziyi) is less satisfied, however, and returns to challenge Ip Man herself. During their fight, they share the briefest moment of attraction, awakening a forbidden yearning within them both. Gong Er returns home, only to discover that her father's best student, Ma Shan (Zhang Jin), refuses to accept his master's defeat, and kills him. Gong's dying wish is that the two reconcile and marry, as the last remaining practitioners of Gong's revered 64 Hands technique. However, Gong Er vows to have her revenge.

While it may sound like The Grandmaster features a lot of plot for a Wong Kar Wai film, this really isn't the case. The film spans many years, including the Japanese occupation and Sino-Japanese War, but in a refreshing break from recent Chinese cinematic trends, the conflict goes largely ignored. As with all Wong's films, the characters are the primary focus, and how they struggle to interact through the veneer of society, honour, and their own self-imposed need to starve themselves of happiness.

There is clearly a much longer film here. Reports abound that until very recently, Wong had a four-hour cut of the film, while the version that goes on general release in Hong Kong and China this week clocks in at about 130 minutes. Perhaps the biggest victim of this drastic re-editing is Chang Chen. Given third billing, as well as his own character poster, his character probably only manages about ten minutes of screen time and only appears in three scenes. Zhao Benshan's worldly-wise father figure gets even less screen time to the extent his role in the film proves almost entirely pointless.

Chang's character, known only as "The Razor", is first seen on a train, fleeing from the Chinese army. Bleeding, and brandishing a cutthroat razor blade, Gong Er sees him and instinctively shields him from the search party. This moment teases at a possible romance between the two youngsters, not to mention reunites Zhang and Chang onscreen for the first time since Ang Lee's Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon. We anticipate their next encounter, and how it could complicate Gong Er's relationship with Ip Man, but even after both characters make the move to Hong Kong, The Razor never meets any of the principals again.

Many of the recurring themes that Wong allows to permeate his work resurface in The Grandmaster. Characters have fleeting encounters that are never built upon, but which continue to haunt them for years afterwards. Time proves once again to be everyone's greatest enemy, not only causing people to grow old, but also to forget the things they held most dear - and in this film particularly, the idea that age makes them weak, and less able to defend themselves plagues them relentlessly. Because, of course, for all its melancholy musing and forlorn contemplation, this is a film about martial artists and The Grandmaster is one hell of a beautiful kung fu movie.

Action choreographer Yuen Woo Ping repeatedly dazzles us with his intensity and imagination, staging a number of standout fight sequences throughout the film that are captured exquisitely by Philippe Le Sourd's ravishing cinematography. Screen legends like Bruce Leung Siu Lung and Cung Le push Tony Leung to the limits of his newfound prowess, while Zhang Ziyi and Zhang Jin are also thoroughly convincing fighters on screen. But the staging of the action in The Grandmaster is a far cry from the kung fu in Wong's last martial arts venture, 1994's Ashes of Time. That film instilled a magical quality into its action, coupled with that blurry slo-mo camerawork Chris Doyle favoured at the time. In The Grandmaster, we see everything, and the fights themselves are shot almost as elegant courtships, dictated by ritual, ceremony and mutual respect, or when Zhang's character is involved, a breathless sensuality that only heightens the tension between opponents. Frankie Chan's gorgeous score is another highlight, complemented by an array of songs and classical pieces ranging from 1950s Canto-pop ballads to Ennio Morricone's theme from Once Upon A Time in America - a film that is evoked on numerous occasions throughout.

While admittedly Wong Kar Wai hasn't set himself a very difficult target, it seems extremely likely that The Grandmaster will prove to be the most financially successful film of his career. The anticipation alone should ensure enough tickets are pre-sold to take him most of the way, but the fact that the film is actually really good to boot should help see it do healthy box office both here and overseas. That said, audiences primed by the Donnie Yen/Wilson Yip collaborations who approach this film looking for another dose of nationalistic breast-beating and old-school chop socky action stand a good chance of leaving disappointed.

The Grandmaster remains first and foremost a Wong Kar Wai film, employing a very slow, deliberate pace throughout and dedicates long periods of time to watching its characters ponder the great mysteries of life, or more often, wallow in their own regrets and missed opportunities. But this is interspersed by some truly fantastic action, which should delight kung fu fans and arthouse cinephiles alike. In The Grandmaster, Wong Kar Wai has crafted the best-looking martial arts film since Zhang Yimou's Hero, and the most successful marriage of kung fu and classic romance since Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon, and is more than deserving of that film's measure of international success.

Man, if this hits like CTHD (http://ezine.kungfumagazine.com/forum/showthread.php?t=57881), it's going to be all about Z as the queen of Kung Fu again. :rolleyes:

[GeneChing]

There's vid of the premiere on the link below. I dig Z's space dress.

Wong Kar Wai's The Grandmaster premieres in Hong Kong (http://entertainment.stv.tv/film/209090-wong-kar-wais-the-grandmaster-premieres-in-hong-kong/)
STV 9 January 2013 16:10 GMT

After more than a decade in the making, Hong Kong director Wong Kar Wai's new film The Grandmaster is finally set to hit theatres in the Far East.

Along with his leading actors Tony Chiu Wai Leung, Zhang Ziyi, and Chang Chen, Wong attended the premiere in Hong Kong on Tuesday January 8 2013.

The Grandmaster is about the story of martial arts legend Ip Man, who is the teacher of Kung Fu superstar Bruce Lee.

Even though there have been several other films about the life of Ip Man, Wong was the first director to announce a film project back in 2002.

The role of Ip Man has been previously portrayed by Kung Fu star Donnie Yen. In Wong's version, actor Tony Leung plays Ip.

Unlike Yen, Leung has no previous training of Kung Fu, but began intense training for three years and more to prepare for his role.

It was no easy task at all. Leung has said that he suffered multiple injuries during filming and training. However, after he saw the finished product, Leung said that he was very happy with his performance.

Leung said that when filming finally began for The Grandmaster, it couldn't have come at a better time for him.

"If we had begun shooting 10 years earlier, I couldn't have portrayed him properly. I won't be like a master, more like a kid,” he explained. “So a lot of things were meant to be.

“Fate works in wondrous ways. It was at the right timing. We were all very lucky. It was at the right time, and we did the right thing. It wasn't right to film other times. We filmed at the right time.”

When asked if the strenuous work and long hours he put into this project would prevent Leung from doing another Wong Kar Wai film in the future, Leung replied: "I've been acting for 30 years...Three years is nothing."

Actress Zhang Ziyi had previously said that The Grandmaster would be her last Kung Fu film.

She said that the strain put on her body from the intense Kung Fu training had pushed her to the limit. Still, she defended Wong's decision to ask the main characters to undergo training.

"We trained for Kung Fu for a very long time, that's because the director wanted us to embody the spirit of the character. So I think for him (Wong Kar Wai) to ask us to do that, it wasn't too much to ask," she said.

The Grandmaster is released in Hong Kong on January 10. It has been selected as the opening film for this year's Berlin Film Festival, where Wong serves as the president of the jury.

[xinyidizi]

I am beginning to hate kungfu movies more and more and I didn't like this one either because the story was poor like the rest of them however there were a few good things in the fight scenes and at least the styles looked like what they are supposed to look like to some degree which is a major development.

[GeneChing]

So, as I said, I've been rewatching some WKW flicks and I think I've solved my issues with his work. I recently watched As Tears Go By and am almost through watching Days of Being Wild. WKW is an HK filmmaker that makes French films. All of his stuff mimic French cinema - the moodiness, the lighting, the way the stories moves, the dwelling upon smoking, even the existential outlook. His twist is he's HK, and gives his films this rich HK atmospheric texture - it's tropical, yet he used a lot of washed out cool colors, totally rundown settings that really catch the feel of urban HK. On top of that, he got some great actors when they were young, Andy Lau, Leslie Cheung, Jacky Cheung, Brigitte Lin, and had a fine muse in Maggie Cheung, who is just captivating in all the WKW films in which she appears. Given the international esteem of French film (case & point: Cannes) WKW films work with the artsy set really well. Personally, I hate French film. This is my theory. At the very least, it explains Irma Vep.


Film review: The Grandmaster, by Wong Kar-wai (http://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/arts-culture/article/1124776/film-review-grandmaster-wong-kar-wai)
Thursday, 10 January, 2013, 4:50pm
Yvonne Teh

http://www.scmp.com/sites/default/files/styles/486x302/public/2013/01/10/handout_mg_9867.jpg
Tony Leung plays wing chun master Ip Man in ''The Grandmaster''.

Starring: Tony Leung Chiu-wai, Zhang Ziyi, Chang Chen
Director: Wong Kar-wai
Category: IIA (Cantonese and Putonghua)

His first film, As Tears Go By (1988), was a drama about a triad; he also produced The Eagle Shooting Heroes (1993) and directed Ashes of Time (1994), based on characters from the Louis Cha Leung-yung martial arts novel. But Wong Kar-wai is usually looked upon as an auteur whose films feature more talk than action.

So it can make for a shock to discover his much-anticipated The Grandmaster – first mooted in 2002 – features more action than dialogue.

Originally conceived as a biopic about Ip Man, the wing chun martial arts exponent whose students included Bruce Lee, the film starts off as planned. But while Ip (played by Tony Leung Chiu-wai) is the movie’s main man, it soon becomes clear The Grandmaster has another prominent character in Gong Er (Zhang Ziyi), the proud daughter of northern martial arts master Gong Yutian (Wang Qingxiang). The film’s original title was The Grandmasters.

Early on, there is a beautifully choreographed duel between Ip and Gong Er in the gilded confines of a high-class brothel frequented by the martial arts masters of Foshan, Ip’s hometown. The fight pits a “hard”, masculine, northern-style of kung fu against a “soft” martial arts form invented by a nun – all the more intriguing then that it’s Gong Er who’s using the hard system while Ip has the softer wing chun moves.

If only the rest of The Grandmaster matched that level of superlative filmmaking. The cinematography by Philippe Le Sourd does offer some beautiful scenes, notably a funeral in the snow. Too bad then that unlike some of Wong’s earlier works (i.e. pretty much the ones he helmed between 1990 and 2000), the whole is not greater than the sum of its parts here.

Even without reading the news reports that there was a rush to complete the HK$300 million film in time to meet its January release dates in Hong Kong and on the mainland, the viewer can see the haste. As it is, one leaves the cinema feeling there are just too many loose strands and ends.

The Grandmaster is showing now

[doug maverick]

so basically the film, which was originally concieved biopic is now a complete and utter work of fiction? LAME!! i already had extremely low hope for this movie watching the trailers just made me see the WKW got lost in this film, his frustration with being beat to the punch on making the ip man films is obvious, why would he try to make it all action, instead of playing on his actors strength which is acting...especially when you are going to compete with donnie yen and sammo hung in action..and no offense to yeun woo ping, but when it comes to southern style kung fu choreagraphy sammo is king! im not even going to waste my time...ill watch it online for free.

[GeneChing]

...even if it's artsy HK wannabe French filmmakers. :rolleyes: That being said, I'm a huge supporter of the theatrical experience. I love the silver screen and can think of many films that I wouldn't want to see anywhere else. Granted, Doug, there are plenty of films that are best viewed on the small screen, but I still support the martial arts industry when I can.

Meanwhile, back to the topic at hand - Z's dress. :eek:


Zhang Ziyi Dazzles In Neon Marc Bouwer Dress: Love It Or Leave It? (http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/01/09/zhang-ziyi-neon-dress-photos_n_2441084.html)(PHOTOS, POLL)
Posted: 01/09/2013 1:40 pm EST | Updated: 01/09/2013 4:56 pm EST

There's neon and then there's neon.

Actress Zhang Ziyi went with the latter on Tuesday, showing up to the Hong Kong premiere of "The Grandmasters" wearing a dazzlingly bright dress by Marc Bouwer. The Spring 2011 frock features peaked shoulders and a high neckline -- because really, who needs distracting cleavage and collarbone with a print like that?

Besides being completely dizzying, the print is also an optical illusion: is the fabric cotton? Latex? Jersey? The only thing we can tell is that the colors are utterly blinding. Thank goodness for Zhang Ziyi's good sense to tone things down with nude Yves Saint Laurent pumps and subtle makeup.

http://i.huffpost.com/gen/933691/thumbs/o-ZHANG-ZIYI-570.jpg?13
http://i.huffpost.com/gen/933686/thumbs/o-ZHANG-ZIYI-570.jpg?4 I love it. It looks like a Romulan Dragonlady qipao. :p

[GeneChing]

Grandmaster has masterful BO debut (http://www.filmbiz.asia/news/grandmaster-has-masterful-bo-debut)
By Stephen Cremin and Patrick Frater
Tue, 15 January 2013, 12:35 PM (HKT)
Box Office News

http://www.filmbiz.asia/media/BAhbB1sHOgZmSSItMjAxMy8wMS8xNC8yMC8zNC8yNy83MjEvZ3 JhbmRtYXN0ZXJzLmpwZwY6BkVUWwg6BnA6CnRodW1iSSINNTAw eDEwMDAGOwZU?suffix=.jpg&sha=b63bb11d
WONG Kar-wai 王家衛's The Grandmaster 一代宗師 secured RMB162 million (US$26.1 million) in Mainland China in its first six days in cinemas last week, a record for the Hong Kong-based director.

The film's budget is believed to have risen to RMB240 million (US$38.6 million) over its long production period, with Wong finishing the film just 72 hours before its release. Its first press screening was held two days before it opened in China.

The film, starring Tony LEUNG Chiu-wai 梁朝偉, also got off to a strong start in Hong Kong, Wong's home base and the adopted home of Leung's co-star ZHANG Ziyi 章子怡.

Playing in four different versions – in a mix of different Chinese dialects, with and without English subtitles – it notched up US$168,000 (HK$1.3 million) on its opening day for distributor and co-investor Sil-Metropole Organisation Ltd 銀都機構有限公司.

By Sunday night, its box office climbed to HK$8.06 million (US$1.04 million), an impressive start for a Chinese-language film of any dialect in Hong Kong.

The film opens in Taiwan on 18 Jan through Warner Bros (Taiwan) Inc 美商華納兄弟 (遠東) 股份有限公司臺灣分公司. Shaw Organisation Pte Ltd opens the film in Singapore on 31 Jan.

In China, Grandmaster scored more than double the box office of closest competitor, Jackie CHAN 成龍's CZ12 十二生肖, on RMB80.7 million (US$13.0 million). The action-comedy has now grossed RMB801 million (US$129 million).

CZ12 is the second most successful Chinese-language release of all time in the Mainland. Still on release, current record-holder, XU Zheng 徐崢's road movie comedy Lost in Thailand 人再囧途之泰囧, is now on RMB1.20 billion (US$194 million). China's BO numbers are all screwy now because the market is on this massive rise, so every new release has the advantage of more outlets resulting in a bigger BO take.

[GeneChing]

Kung Fooey (http://www.globaltimes.cn/content/757456.shtml)
Global Times | 2013-1-22 18:38:02
By Lu Qianwen

http://www.globaltimes.cn/Portals/0/attachment/2011/448d1b65-8c78-44ca-b331-0e4c677165c9.jpeg
Shaolin Temple monks perform in Macao, January 7, 2013. Photo:CFP

Gap between real kung fu and that seen on screen extremely wide

Kung fu movie-goers must have long ditched the fantasy of real kung fu and those flashy moves presented in the movies. Though there have always been a few films that have tried to approximate the real thing, like Enter the Dragon and The Way of the Dragon starring Bruce Lee, or Ip Man starring Donnie Yen, and the most recent one, The Grandmaster, there are still exaggerations and special effects added in.

By drifting away from real kung fu, these films have on one hand stirred up people's interest in traditional Chinese martial arts (or wushu), while on the other hand they have wrongly impressed audiences with what they are capable of.

Approximation at best

In 1982, kung fu film Shaolin Temple starring Jet Li swept China with a total box-office tally reaching over 100 million yuan ($16 million), while the ticket price back then was only 0.1 yuan. By impressing so many millions about Shaolin kung fu, the film, in a way, redefined what Chinese kung fu meant among common people.

Now The Grandmaster is marching its way to success both at home and abroad. Its box office in the mainland now has reached 250 million yuan and it will be the opening film for the Berlin Film Festival starting February 7. As the film's director, Wong Karwai, prepares to serve as president of the jury in Berlin, he has drawn further comparisons with the genre's standard-bearer made three decades ago.

"This is the one that most authentically presents Chinese wushu since Shaolin Temple," said Wong, "I believe The Grandmaster opened a door for more audiences to know and love Chinese wushu."

"I thought [The Grandmaster] mostly reflected Chinese kung fu from the Republic of China period (1912-49)," said Zeng Hairuo, director of Kung Fu, a documentary now in production that is trying to record every existing kung fu style across China.

"However, it is still a film. Besides the special effects applied, it was set in a certain historic period when China was weak and under the invasion of foreign powers. In this case the kung fu expressed in the film was from practitioners with great patriotism and sense of responsibility to save the country," Zeng told the Global Times.

"Times have changed, and the kung fu styles used in the film are very different from the real ones of today, either in the specific way they are practiced or in the spirit of those practicing them," he added.

Dose of reality

Real kung fu of course does not look as dazzling and dizzy as in the films. Along with enhancements from computer technology, they usually mix in some other movements that don't originate from the style. For example, the flip, which is a move often performed by Peking Opera singers, is commonly seen in kung fu movies.

"In early days there were some kung fu practitioners who wanted to try authentic kung fu in films, but the visual effect turned out really bad," said Zhang Li, author of the book Secrets of Kung Fu Films, which was published last year.

With borrowed movements like the opera's flip or others from gymnastics or even dance added in to enhance the visual effect of traditional kung fu, it seems many of the new fans like it for the wrong reasons.

"Wushu is dissimilated from its origin. With different and new film technologies emerging, Chinese wushu became well-known, but meanwhile misled people's recognition about it," Zhang told the China Newsweek in an interview.

In films, kung fu practitioners are always the first ones to jump toward the center of a room to challenge the skills of a local competitor. But in reality, Chinese kung fu practitioners are seldom seen in any of those competitive fighting events.

"Kung fu actually is not suitable for being part of modern competitive sports since its essence can't be best displayed within a short match," said Zeng, "its long history as well as the dozens of years required to practice real kung fu underlines that it is not merely about wining or losing."

"Instead, it's more like a long-term self-cultivation both physically and spiritually, in the process of which Chinese ancient philosophy, Buddhism, Taoism, and even the theory of TCM (Traditional Chinese Medicine) integrate into the practitioner's cultivation," Zeng explained.

Few true masters

Screen kung fu masters are not strange to audiences, like Wong Feihung, Huo Yuanjia, Chen Zhen and the most famous of all, Ye Wen (1893-1972, grandmaster of wing chun style and Bruce Lee's mentor). But in real life, how many of us have personally seen a kung fu master? Instead, we see imitators and even swindlers who claim the title "kung fu master."

Last September the scandal of Yan Fang, a middle-aged woman who claimed to be a master of tai chi aroused many people's curiosity. People saw her use tai chi to knock a man to the ground without touching him. But it didn't take long to expose this self-proclaimed "master" as a fraud.

"Real kung fu masters today will not appear in front of people in a high profile situation unless there is some really urgent situation endangering the country or people," said Zeng, "They are focused on their practice. If Ye Wen were living today, he would also be out of people's sight."

According to Zeng, there are around 100 kung fu masters across the country today. Unlike in the films that depict masters of different kung fu schools coming together to a certain place to fight or learn from each other, today's masters care more about where to find successors who will carry the style forward to future generations.

"But those apprentices do exchange their kung fu skills sometimes," said Zeng. Perhaps depicting that story is the best way to get real kung fu onto the big screen.
Anyone read Secrets of Kung Fu Films by Zhang Li?

Of course, we discussed Yan Fang here (http://ezine.kungfumagazine.com/forum/showthread.php?t=64432) already

The Ye Wen/Ip Man shift is funny to me.

[GeneChing]

So far, it's a gorgeous film. I'll finish it tonight.

Ip Man of mystery happy his new role is no enigma (http://www.chinapost.com.tw/art/movies-&-films/2013/01/28/368699/p2/Ip-Man.htm)
By Yip Wai Yee,The Straits Times/Asia News Network
January 28, 2013, 12:00 am TWN

SINGAPORE -- Tony Leung Chiu Wai brushes off the several injuries he suffered, including a broken arm, while filming “The Grandmaster.”

“Getting injured is no big deal because you can get injured doing normal exercises as well,” he says with a shrug while in town this week to promote the martial arts film.

Perhaps, just perhaps, for an actor who is serious about his craft, like Leung is, getting an arm broken accidentally is nothing compared with having no clue about the role that you are playing in a movie. At least the pain he felt was as real as the motivations and character of the man he was portraying in “The Grandmaster.”

After making six movies with director Wong Kar-wai, he almost sounds grateful that he finally had a concrete idea of his character while filming their seventh collaboration, “The Grandmaster.”

In the movie, Leung plays famed martial arts expert Ip Man, Bruce Lee's teacher in real life, who has been documented in numerous books and films.

Leung, 50, says in Mandarin with a grin: “This was the first time I knew who my character was, and had such a clear notion of the man. When you work with Wong Kar-wai, he won't really tell you what the story is. He will give you the day's script, or the script for the scene, and then you just go with that.

“But at least I know who Ip Man is. Both Zhang Ziyi and Chang Chen wouldn't have really known who they were playing, though. I'm the luckiest actor of the lot.”

In the film, which opens in Singapore this week, China actress Zhang and Taiwanese actor Chang play the fictional characters of Gong Er and Razor, two of the kung-fu experts in China whom Ip Man has encounters with.

Recalling his past movies with Wong, Leung adds with a chuckle: “Sometimes, I wouldn't even know what some parts of my movies with Wong were about, until journalists pointed them out to me and asked whether some scenes had certain meanings. Then I'd be like, what, really?”

His comments are unsurprising. Wong's films are hailed for their sumptuous visual aesthetics and mood-setting par excellence, with clear-cut characterization and story line taking a backseat.

In a separate interview, Wong, who was also in Singapore to promote the movie, is quick to say Leung is “only joking” about being relatively clueless while shooting their films before “The Grandmaster.”

But he concedes: “The thing is, what I want from the actors is for them to give me the very best interpretations of their characters, and how do you get the best? You get that if the characters are custom- made for the actors.

“So the way I work is, I give them some general instructions and let them bring something of their own to the roles, and then we meet somewhere in the middle. That is how you will get something really fantastic.”

That way of working — workshopping characters even as filming takes place — is also a reason why Wong's films often take many years to be completed.

His intricate attention to detail is another reason why his movie projects are often delayed and prolonged, something he has become known for.

“The Grandmaster” took him four years to make, as he filmed additional scenes after principal shooting had long ended. The finished film was reportedly sent to China's censors for clearance only hours before its first press screening in Beijing.

His movie “2046” (2004), considered a loose sequel to “Days Of Being Wild” and “In The Mood For Love” with time-travel elements, took four years to film, and premiered at Cannes with film reels delivered to the festival straight from the processing lab. There were so many delayed schedules and additional, drawn-out shoots that a running joke among the crew was that the film would be completed only in the year 2046.

“The Grandmaster” was shot all over China over four years in extreme conditions, from freezing blizzards in Shenyang to blistering heat in Guangdong province.

Shooting a lengthy fight scene in torrential rain reportedly took 30 consecutive days, a period during which the cast and crew barely had any time to rest.

Wong, 56, admits that working so long and hard is taking a toll on his health, especially given his age.

“Back then, I was still young. Now, I'm not that young guy anymore. While filming “The Grandmaster,” my back went from a curve of 89 degrees down to 60 degrees,” says Wong, who is married with one 16-year-old son.

According to other reports, actress Zhang had said that the film crew had to design a special chair for Wong just so that he could sit upright properly due to his back pain.

Talk of aging leads Wong to half-joke that Leung, the leading man he has used most often, is also “getting old.”

“Years ago, when Tony could not sleep, he would take walks in the middle of the night, and I would see him holding a bottle of alcohol. But now, when he can't sleep, I see him walking around with a hot water bottle and a lot of medicine.”

Leung is not the only actor whom Wong likes to cast repeatedly in his films. Maggie Cheung has acted in five of Wong's works, starting in 1989 with “As Tears Go By.”

The two other starts of “The Grandmaster,” Zhang and Chang, are also repeat collaborators. Zhang starred in 2046, while Chang took part in “Happy Together,” “2046” and short film segment “The Hand” (2004), which was featured in anthology work “Eros.”

Wong enjoys working with these same talents because they are more than just excellent performers — they also bring a little “something extra” in their attitudes.

Leung and Zhang, whom he single out for special mention, are “clear professionals” who are ready to shoot and reshoot a scene as long as the director deems necessary.

“After they finish filming a scene, they go off to the side but they won't sit down immediately. It's because they don't want to wrinkle their costumes. So they stand and check if everything is all right first, before they rest.

“It's this kind of attitude that is just so admirable. I always tell the younger actors that they must learn from people like Tony and Zhang Ziyi.”

[pazman]

Does the movie accurately depict Ye Wen's brave and courageous fight against the Japanese dogs?

http://images.wikia.com/how-i-met-your-mother/de/images/3/35/Trollface-small-normal2pl7-1.png

[GeneChing]

It's more about Kung Fu duels of honor.

Grandmasters has a goodly amount of action in the first hour. SPOILER Cung gets beaten up in the first fight scene (that is how he's getting typecast in Chinese cinema) in a spectacular fight in the rain with gratuitous slo-mo raindrops, puddle-stomping and water water everywhere. END SPOILER It's beautiful filmmaking. The film is just gorgeous, scene-for-scene. Almost every scene is half shadow with tight-framed face shots bathed in warm sumptuous sepia tones. WKW is really working light and shadow, so many shots are tightly-framed glowing faces while the rest of the screen is pitch black. Z and Tony Leung have great faces, so it works. The film glows like a picture-perfect postcard of Canton in the 1930s. Wonderfully ornate sets and costumes, a very classy production, art house quality. And decent fights, amazingly enough. It showcases the character of different Kung Fu styles quite well, very old school in that regard. SPOILER Amusingly, WKW repeats his bleeding out on the train scene from Days of Being Wild. END SPOILER It is a gorgeous film, a filmmaker's film, the kind of film that you can spend hours deconstructing its cinematography if you're a film nerd.

As a Kung Fu flick, it works until about the hour and a half mark. There are some decent fights, all very artsy with the slo mos and stylistically visionary, yet still convey the action well. But the last half hour is about romantic regret, melancholy over missed chances, the stock and trade of most WKW films. There's no final climactic fight, or rather, the climax happens with a half hour more film to go, which just feels premature to me, but maybe that will be like cuddling after for the film nerd set.

Will this be the next CTHD (http://ezine.kungfumagazine.com/forum/showthread.php?t=65170)? It might. I think the film crowd will love it, but I thought they would embrace Wuxia (aka Dragon) (http://ezine.kungfumagazine.com/forum/showthread.php?t=58073) more too. It will surely stand as a 'must-see' Kung Fu flick for any fan of the genre because it is a departure from the norm, a truly classy beautiful production. I hope it does well as I hope any film does as it has some great messages and any good film is a boost to the industry. I'm no fan of Z, but she turns in one of her best performances since The Road Home.

I will gladly pay to see this on the big screen if given the chance.

[pazman]

Don't worry, that was a joke in reference to the first Ip Man movie...at the university I worked at in Wuhan, I got in trouble for suggesting that Yip Man never fought Japanese soldiers as in the movie.

The Chinese take their movies seriously.:D

This movies sounds interesting, though.

[GeneChing]

Sounds like a strong opening...

Agence France-Presse February 7, 2013 11:46
Wong Kar Wai martial arts epic kicks off 63rd Berlinale (http://www.globalpost.com/dispatch/news/afp/130207/wong-kar-wai-martial-arts-epic-kicks-63rd-berlinale)

The 63rd Berlin film festival got off to a fists-flying start Thursday with Chinese director Wong Kar Wai's lush martial arts epic about the mentor of kung fu superstar Bruce Lee.

Wong, who also leads the Berlinale's jury this year, is using the event as a launch pad for the worldwide release of "The Grandmaster", which opened in China last month to rave reviews and a box office bonanza.

The film, whose original two-hours-plus length has been chopped slightly for the global market, stars Hong Kong heart-throb Tony Leung from Wong's 2000 hit "In the Mood for Love", and Beijing-born actress Zhang Ziyi ("Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon").

The picture, which was warmly applauded at a press preview, spans several decades of Chinese history to tell the story of legendary martial artist Yip Man, who went on to train Lee, and features mesmerising battle scenes.

Wong, 54, told reporters he was confident the movie, which is screening out of competition at the 11-day Berlinale, had appeal beyond China, the world's second biggest cinema market.

"There is something in this film which is universal. It's about family values and the code of honour," he said. "If they are curious enough.. it is also a step for (the international audience) to learn more, to explore."

The film follows the Grandmaster through some of China's most tumultuous recent history including the Japanese invasion in the 1930s.

It spent around a decade in gestation, with extensive re-shooting and injured actors.

Leung said he started learning kung fu at the age of 46, practised for four years for the film and broke his arm twice doing some of his own stunts. But he said the biggest challenge was capturing the Grandmaster's state of mind.

"After four years of hard training I understand kung fu is not just physical training or fighting techniques," he said.

"There is a spiritual side of kung fu and that side you cannot be learning from books or by fact finding. It grows spontaneously with the mind free of emotions and desires. That is why I had to practise four years."

Zhang plays the sole inheritor of the "64 Hands" technique of her father, another martial arts master, and uses them to lethal effect in the tale of betrayal and vengeance.

She said she accepted the gruelling training and filming schedule to work with Wong, who shot for 20 months over three years.

"If Wong Kar Wai asked me again to give this amount of time, I would do it again, that's how great he is," she said.

Reviews Thursday by the international trade press were glowing.

"The film contains some of the most dazzling fights ever seen on screen," the Hollywood Reporter wrote.

It added: "Wong's art-house fanbase also will find much to savour, with the kind of longing that defines the filmmaker's oeuvre," in films such as "In the Mood for Love" and "My Blueberry Nights" with Jude Law.

Variety concurred: "Wong Kar Wai exceeds expectations...fashioning a 1930s action saga into a refined piece of commercial filmmaking."

Wong, who made his international breakthrough in 1994 with "Chungking Express", leads the panel handing out the Berlinale's Golden and Silver Bear top prizes among 19 contenders on February 16.

He told a press conference with his jury that the Berlinale was an "intimate" festival that cherished the "true pleasure" of sharing ideas.

"We are here to serve the films, we're not here to judge films, we are here to appreciate films, to champion the films that we really find inspiring... and move us," he said.

The first major European film festival of the year and traditionally its most politically minded, the Berlinale this year is showcasing pictures about the human impact of the West's economic crisis, two decades of upheaval in eastern Europe as well as fresh releases from US independent directors.

Last year the Golden Bear went to Italian veterans Paolo and Vittorio Taviani for the docudrama "Caesar Must Die" about prison inmates staging Shakespeare.

[GeneChing]

Now we just have to figure out when and where...

'The Grandmaster" to release in US (http://www.cinema.com.my/news/news.aspx?search=2013.n_thegrandmastertorelease_13 134)
By Ng Suzhen
http://www.cinema.com.my/images/news/2013/7n_thegrandmastertorelease00.jpg
"The Grandmaster" fights his way into cinemas in the West.

11 Feb – Director Wong Kar Wai's "The Grandmaster" has been picked up by The Weinstein Company and will soon be seen across cinemas in the Western side of the hemisphere.

Deadline.com broke the news that TWC acquired all the rights in the US and English-speaking Canadian territories from Annapurna as well as the rights to Australia, New Zealand and the UK from Wild Bunch.

"I am pleased to continue our long-time and multi-picture collaboration with TWC on "The Grandmaster". With Harvey's (Weinstein) expertise and his passion for this genre, I am confident that he and his team will reach new heights with "The Grandmaster" by cultivating hard-core action fans as well as exciting and pleasing those long-time fans of my films," said Wong.

Weinstein returned the compliments, praising Wong as an extraordinary filmmaker.

http://www.cinema.com.my/images/news/2013/7n_thegrandmastertorelease01.jpg
Director Wong Kar Wai's "The Grandmaster" opened at the Berlin Film Festival. Here he is seen with cast Tony Leung Chiu-Wai and Zhang Ziyi.

"The Grandmaster" tells the tale of Bruce Lee's legendary mentor, Ip Man, who crosses path with various Kung Fu masters during the Japanese invasion in the 1930s. The film stars Tony Leung Chiu-Wai as the grandmaster as well as Zhang Ziyi, Zhang Chen and Korean actress Song Hye-Kyo.

The epic premiered in the Berlin Film Festival as the opening film on 7 February.

[GeneChing]

...at least in the Chinese box office.


Chinese Box Office: "The Grandmaster" Reaches $40M; "Lost in Thailand" Inches Closer to "Avatar"'s Record (http://www.movieswithbutter.com/blogs/chinese-box-office-grandmaster-reaches-40m-lost-thailand-inches-closer-avatars-record-437360)
Posted 5:32 PM January 24th, 2013 by Senh Duong

http://www.movieswithbutter.com/sites/default/files/images/grandmaster2.preview.jpg

Wong Kar-Wai’s “The Grandmaster” topped the charts for another week with $13.7M, upping its total to a spectacular $39.5M after two weeks. It’s now the top earning Ip Man film in China, beating the $32M gross of the Donnie Yen-starring “Ip Man 2.” That’s pretty impressive, considering Yen’s films were the ones that popularized the martial arts master who taught Bruce Lee.

“The Grandmaster” has surpassed “Hero” ($30M) to become Zhang Ziyi’s best performer in China (excluding her cameo in “The Founding of a Republic”), and Tony Leung Chui-Wai’s second best behind John Woo’s “Red Cliff” ($46.7M). It’s very likely that it will pass “Red Cliff” in the coming weeks.

Now the question is will the success of “The Grandmaster” spawn sequels? Wong did spend more than a decade developing it; I’m sure he had lots of ideas that didn’t make it to the film. It would be interesting if we get two franchises based on the life of Ip Man: an artsy, pensive version from Wong, and a low-key, kick-ass version from Wilson Yip.

In second place this week with $13.4M is a surprise hit that almost topped the charts: “Bring Happiness Home,” a low-budget comedy about a dog that got separated from its rich owner. Yeah, I don’t think any of you care either. Either way, it’s good to see a chart-topper that’s not a huge, expensive production headlined by big stars.

Third and fourth place went to “Chinese Zodiac” and “Lost in Thailand,” with $8M and $4.9M, respectively. In total, “Chinese Zodiac” has collected $135M. “Lost in Thailand” is at $196M. I’m not sure it can still beat “Avatar” ($204M). It’ll get close.

“The Last Tycoon,” starring Chow Yun Fat and Sammo Hung, is currently at $23M, a solid performance. You just can’t compare it to “Chinese Zodiac” or “Lost in Thailand”; it’ll distort your perspective. Movies don’t make $100M in China often. Last year was a special year, in which three Chinese films passed that barrier.

[GeneChing]

Hot Teaser Trailer: ‘The Grandmaster’ (http://www.deadline.com/2013/04/video-hot-teaser-trailer-the-grandmaster-wong-kar-wa/)
By THE DEADLINE TEAM | Monday April 22, 2013 @ 4:39pm

The Weinstein Co. release acquired from Annapurna Pictures hits theaters August 23 with an abridged title (formerly The Grandmasters). Tony Leung stars in the Wong Kar-wai action drama as legendary martial artist Ip Man. Zhang Ziyi and Cung Le co-star. Here’s the first domestic teaser for the pic, replete with rainy action footage and a rather intrusive voice over: I didn't watch the new trailer. I dislike voice overs.

[SimonM]

I finally saw the Grandmasters and was disappointed. The cinematography was beautiful and the fights were entertaining (if somewhat generic) but the plot was a hot mess lacking engagement, focus or a consistent through-line on the story.

Give it a miss if you haven't seen it yet.

[GeneChing]

I expect a lot of buzz on upcoming stuff coming out of this weekend.


Academy to host screening of Wong Kar-Wai's 'The Grandmaster' (http://www.hitfix.com/in-contention/academy-to-host-screening-of-wong-kar-wais-the-grandmaster)
After a rough Berlin debut, the martial arts epic is seeking a second wind
By Guy Lodge Wednesday, Jul 17, 2013 12:15 AM
http://images.hitfix.com/photos/3549638/pic1_article_story_main.jpg
Tony Leung in "The Grandmaster."
Credit: The Weinstein Company

Wong Kar-Wai's long-awaited, long-delayed martial arts epic "The Grandmaster" looked to be the dream opening film at this year's Berlin Film Festival, but it received a slightly rude awakening when it finally premiered. I was far from the only critic to voice my disappointment with the film, which bore the scars of work that had been labored over a little too long -- though it still offered sporadic thrills and ravishing beauty aplenty.

Faced with a mixed response to a film that was arguably always going to suffer from inflated expectations, US distributors The Weinstein Company were probably wise to sit on it for a few months. The film has played other, smaller international film festivals since its Berlin debut, but will be making its first US appearance in the very different environment of Comic-Con this week. Will the film be more warmly embraced by the genre crowd than the festival press? It's worth a try: the film certainly isn't typical Comic-Con fare, but that novelty could serve it well, generating a fresh wave of buzz ahead of its August 23 release.

Meanwhile, it was announced today that the film will also be receiving a special screening at the Academy on Monday, as part of their season-long celebration of the kung-fu genre. Wong will be in attendance, while a Q&A with the filmmaker will be hosted by writer, director and "Mad Men" creator Matthew Weiner -- not the first name you'd connect with the Hong Kong iconoclast, though both men know a thing or two about style on screen.

The Academy's exhibition, "Kick Ass! Kung Fu Posters from the Stephen Chin Collection," will be available to view in the Grand Lobby of the Academy's Samuel Goldwyn Theater after the screening.

The Academy event, which is already sold out, lends additional class to the film's profile as one of this summer's potential arthouse blockbusters. It'll be interesting to see if it can get a second wind nearly six months after its distant world premiere. Meanwhile, it's nice to see the Academy showcasing a genuine titan of world cinema under any circumstances. Wong, incidentally, was one of 176 individuals invited to join the Academy last year.

[GeneChing]

I wish Z would make a surprise appearance at an event I am at....

New kung fu film screened in LA (http://usa.chinadaily.com.cn/epaper/2013-07/25/content_16829504.htm)
Updated: 2013-07-25 11:18
By China Daily (China Daily)
http://usa.chinadaily.com.cn/epaper/attachement/jpg/site181/20130725/02589d4d8601135adec942.jpg
Wong Kar-wai and Zhang Ziyi, female lead of The Grandmaster, attend the preview of the movie at the Samuel Goldwyn Theater in Beverly Hills on Monday. Provided to China Daily

A sneak preview of The Grandmaster this week warmed up the market for the film's premier in Los Angeles in late August.
As part of an on-going celebration of kung fu films, the American Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences hosted the event as a salute to Hong Kong-based writer/director Wong Kar Wai and his new film about the instructor who trained Bruce Lee in martial arts. Lead actress in the film, Zhang Ziyi, made a surprise appearance at the event.
According to the Academy, Wong stands out for his "unique sense of style and emotionally resonant work". He was the first Chinese director to win the Best Director Award at the Cannes Film Festival for his 1997 film Happy Together. Wong has been called a "poet of time" by Sight & Sound and "perhaps the most revered and singular of Hong Kong auteurs" by the New York Times.
The Grandmaster tells the story of martial arts grandmaster Ip Man (Tony Leung), who trained Bruce Lee. As he seeks to perfect his practice of the Wing Chun fighting style, Ip Man locks horns with another determined kung fu master, Gong Er (Zhang Ziyi), during the 1937 Japanese invasion of China and the tumultuous years that follow. The cast also includes Wang Qing-xiang, Chang Chen, Xiao Shengyang and Song Hye Kyo, as well as hundreds of Asia's top martial artists.
The Grandmaster reportedly took Wong 13 years to make. The rain scene alone - used in the movie poster - took a month to finish. Zhang said that Wong spent two years filming the movie's snow scenes.
The film has already been released in the Chines mainland, Hong Kong, Taiwan, France and Japan.
Reviews say the film presents a beauty that is appealing to both Oriental and Western tastes. Other critics gave the movie a mediocre two and half stars out of five because of the kung fu performances.
The Grandmaster will hit US theaters on Aug 23.


Oscar event salutes Wong Kar-Wai (http://english.peopledaily.com.cn/90782/90875/8340765.html)
By Zhang Rui (China.org.cn)
10:33, July 25, 2013

http://english.peopledaily.com.cn/mediafile/201307/25/F201307251034171728821081.jpg
Hong Kong filmmaker Wong Kar-Wai and actress Zhang Ziyi attend the advance screening of "The Grandmaster" in Beverly Hills, on July 22, 2013. The film will hit U.S. theaters on Aug. 23. (China.org.cn)

The Academy of Motion Pictures Arts and Sciences saluted Hong Kong filmmaker Wong Kar-Wai on Monday, with an advance screening of his new film "The Grandmaster," his new film about the master who trained Bruce Lee.

Wong and his film star actress Zhang Ziyi, and Hawk Koch, the president of the Academy, and the filmmaker Matthew Weiner ("Mad Man") - the evening's host - attended the tribute at the Academy's Samuel Goldwyn Theater in Beverly Hills.

This event was part of the Oscar's summer-long celebration of kung fu. The Samuel Goldwn Theater also hosted its current exhibition "KICK ASS! Kung Fu Posters and the Stephen Chin Collection."

http://english.peopledaily.com.cn/mediafile/201307/25/F201307251034159391131646.jpg
(From L to R) Filmmaker Matthew Weiner, actress Zhang Ziyi, director Wong Kar-Wai, screen writer Zou Jingzhi and Hawk Koch, the president of the Academy of Motion Pictures Arts and Sciences, attend a salute to Wong and the advance screening of "The Grandmaster" in Beverly Hills, on July 22, 2013. The film will hit U.S. theaters on Aug. 23. (China.org.cn)
Wong Kar-Wai is known for his unique sense of style and emotionally resonant work, according to the Academy's website. He is the first Chinese director to win the Best Director Award at the Cannes Film Festival for his film "Happy Together" in 1997. His other films also include "Chungking Express," "Fallen Angels," "In the Mood for Love," "2046," and his first English-language film "My Blueberry Nights" - Norah Jones' acting debut.

"The Grandmaster" tells the story of martial arts grandmaster Ip Man (Tony Leung), who trained Bruce Lee. As he seeks to perfect his practice of the fighting style Wing Chun, Ip Man collides with another determined kung fu master, Gong Er (Zhang Ziyi), during the Japanese invasion of China in 1936 and the tumultuous years that follow. The cast also includes Wang Qingxiang, Chang Chen, Xiao Shengyang and Song Hye Kyo, as well as hundreds of Asia's top martial artists.

The film has already been released in China and will hit U.S. theaters on Aug. 23.

[GeneChing]

WKW in attendance.


Kung fu epic premieres in NYC (http://usa.chinadaily.com.cn/epaper/2013-08/12/content_16887403.htm)
Updated: 2013-08-12 10:56
By Caroline Berg in New York (China Daily)

http://usa.chinadaily.com.cn/epaper/attachement/jpg/site181/20130812/02f07c748601137294894a.jpg

Bringing The Grandmaster to the big screen was a 15-year labor of love for Hong Kong director Wong Kar-wai.

"If you like kung fu movies, then you've come to the right place," Wong told the audience before the film's New York premiere. "If you don't like kung fu movies, then it's time to change."

The event was held at the Museum of the Moving Image in Queens, New York, and included a post-screening onstage interview with the director. A question and answer session with the audience followed, during which one audience member shouted from the second to last row that she had worked briefly for Wong on the film and was wondering if he would be her reference for her film school application.

"Talk to me after," the 57-year-old director sporting his signature sunglasses replied.

Wong Kar-wai is widely considered one of the most influential film directors of his generation, both inside and outside of Asia. Saturday's premiere was the centerpiece of a comprehensive retrospective of Wong's work, which began on July 12 and includes all ten of his feature films. Between now and Aug 24, the retrospective will wind up with screenings of My Blueberry Nights, In the Mood for Love and 2046.

Wong's latest feature, in which he seeks to reinvent the martial arts genre, reunites Tony Leung and Zhang Ziyi, the stars of his science-fiction epic 2046. Neither actor has a background in martial arts, and both spent three years training for the film's fight sequences.

"I always wanted to make a kung fu film, but there are so many kung fu films made before me and so I had to find my angle," Wong said during the onstage interview.

The film tackles the story of Ip Man, played by 51-year-old Leung, who pioneered the popular Wing Chun fighting style and taught kung fu legend Bruce Lee.

In the film, Wong seeks to capture the nobility and formality of Chinese kung fu as it existed in the 1930s and '40s, as well as today with its competing schools and philosophies.

The director said he considered naming the film The Grandmasters, but his son talked him out of it, arguing that the film was more about the idea of what it takes to be a grandmaster than the grandmasters themselves.

Wong said he wanted to set the record straight on the Ip Man story, as opposed to merely dazzling audiences with another kung fu movie. The Grandmaster coincides with another Ip Man film released this year, Ip Man: The Final Fight, by Hong Kong director Herman Yau, who also directed The Legend Is Born: Ip Man (2010). Wong's film encountered many delays, including Leung breaking his arm during rehearsal and the day before his first shoot. Wong spent 22 months on a budget of $25 million to shoot the film.

Wong missed a number of release dates before The Grandmaster finally reached theaters on the Chinese mainland in January. The film is Wong's greatest commercial success to date, having earned more than $50 million worldwide. In China, it out-grossed his previous four features combined.

In contrast to Wong's usual free-form style of directing, the filmmaker insisted on strict historical accuracy in this film. After sifting through piles of books, journals and archival materials, including a home video the Ip family presented to Wong in their living room of Ip Man in his studio three days before his death, the filmmaker spent three years interviewing hundreds of mainland martial artists in preparation for the script he co-wrote. The resulting story includes many Ip Man proteges.

"To make this film is like a dream come true," Wong said. "I grew up on streets full of martial arts schools, but I was never allowed to practice martial arts."

When he was growing up, he said, martial arts schools were dark and mysterious and sometimes associated with the triad gangs - groups that became prevalent in Hong Kong during the 1960s and '70s. No parent would encourage their kid to practice martial arts, said Wong.

At the end of the film, a boy stares intently through the window to Ip Man's martial arts studio. "That could be Bruce Lee or that could be me because it was always my dream to walk through the door to find out what's so special, what's so mysterious about Chinese martial arts," Wong said. "With this film, I walked past this door and I find it very satisfying."

carolineberg@chinadailyusa.com

[enoajnin]

At first I thought it was for Ip Man 3, but no. Oddly, it is being released as Martin Scorcese presents "The Grandmaster"

[GeneChing]

We're helping with a promotion for the San Francisco premiere of THE GRANDMASTERS by giving away tickets to some lucky winners. To enter, you need to log onto www.gofobo.com/rsvp and enter in the code (KUNGTK24) to download passes. Entry with these passes are based on a first come first serve basis, and the theater is overbooked to ensure a full house. Hope to see you there!

http://ezine.kungfumagazine.com/images/ezine/grandmaster.png

[Hebrew Hammer]

I am going to see this for two reasons, the fight scenes look fantastic cinematographically (is that even a word?) Secondly for Zhang Ziyi, she is captivating to watch on the big screen. The story line doesn't particularly appeal to me, I'm more of a Wuxia type.

[doug maverick]

US release to be presented by marty scoresese and will be getting a wide release and oscar push...whoa!




For Wong Kar-Wai's 'The Grandmaster,' Weinstein Plans Subtitled Wide Release, Oscar Campaign

by Tom Brueggemann
August 15, 2013 4:29 PM

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Wong Kar-Wai's "The Grandmaster," now being officially presented by Martin Scorsese, is getting an ambitious release from the Weinstein Company, taking the chance that subtitles won't be a barrier in reaching a wider audience. Moviegoers have not had much access to high-budget prestige martial arts films since Ang Lee's spectacular 2000 success with "Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon."

With all the recent major hits from the Weinstein Company (while French, silent "The Artist" was less foreign), one area that that hasn't quite replicated earlier Miramax success is subtitled films. In its heyday in the 1990s, the company transformed the normally limited market for foreign language pictures, starting with "Cinema Paradiso" in 1990 and then later "Il Postino," which both grossed over $10 million (a rare achievement today, even with higher ticket prices), and prestige successes like "Farewell My Concubine" and Kieslowski's "Three Colors" series. Miramax peaked with Roberto Begnini's multiple Oscar winning "Life Is Beautiful' (which totaled $57 million).

But these grosses pale next to Sony Pictures Classics' achievement, "Crouching Tiger," which took in a staggering $128 million in 2000-2001 (adjusted would be $185 million at today's prices), which other than the anomaly of Mel Gibson's "The Passion of the Christ," sold more tickets than any subtitled film in U.S. theater history. (Fellini's "La Dolce Vita" sold as many or more tickets than "Crouching," but it played the majority of its runs with a dubbed English soundtrack in the early 1960s.)

"The Grandmaster" also could be competitive in an Oscar area where the Weinsteins under the Miramax label once excelled -- the Foreign Language Film category. But if so, there could be a complication that could up this year with the change in voting rules.


Under the Miramax banner, Weinstein won the FL award six times between "Pelle the Conqueror" and "The Barbarian Invasions," for a time rivaling Sony Pictures Classics. (SPC has won the award an incredible 13 times, including six of the last seven.) In recent years, though, the Weinsteins have been mainly absent. They had a strong contender last year with the huge international hit "Intouchables," which was submitted by France and played well in the U.S. but failed to make the final five. Instead their Danish crowdpleaser "Kon-Tiki" was a 2012 nominee -- although its U.S. release was in the English-language version shot at the same time.

With the Weinsteins making a major push, "The Grandmaster" could end up with a strong profile that could boost its chances. Cannes winner "Blue Is the Warmest Color" will not open in France in time to be eligible, although IFC will mount a best actress campaign. And "The Past" from director Asghar Farhadi ("A Separation") has yet to be selected by either France, its country of production, or Iran, Farhadi's country (though it remains a likely contender).

"The Grandmaster" could be well positioned thanks to the precedent of "Crouching Tiger," its master auteur Wong Kar-Wai, the most critically acclaimed director from Hong Kong of his generation, and the initial positive critical response. Word is that Hong Kong -- China is the other the co-producing country -- will submit the original China cut of the film, so this could be well-positioned to land a nomination.

Weinstein is releasing the final edit of "The Grandmaster" in New York, Los Angeles and Toronto in limited theaters on Aug. 23, then rolling it out to 600+ theaters on Aug. 30, backed by a national TV campaign (spots have already shown up on broadcast prime time shows this week). All dates will be subtitled, a bold move by Weinstein, even more so since this is likely a record (other than Mel Gibson's films) for the number of dates in only the second week of a run. (SPC's last two winners both played at their widest in fewer than 350 theaters on their way to $6 million or better totals; "Crouching Tiger" at its widest was in over 2,000 theaters, though much later in its run.) And with any level of success it could be an elevated contender, if submitted, for Foreign Language Film, as well as other categories.

And that would lead to confusion, more so with revised rules this year. The version being released in the U.S. is one of three that has been shown -- the original one opened in China and Hong Kong in January, the second played in Berlin last February, and the third and shortest cut with new elements but the same structure, whose editing was overseen by the director who has authorized this version, to be released in the U.S.

Academy rules though say that the version submitted for the Foreign Language committee, and then if nominated screened for members for the final voting, must be the one released in the submitting country. In the meantime, if Weinstein pursues nominations in other categories (apart from the top ones, several of the craft ones could be prime contenders), the U.S. release version is the one that is the correct one to view.

But there is a wrinkle this year -- for the first time, the final voting for the award will be done by all members, with the Academy sending out DVDs of the foreign final five nominees. And they'd be sending out the original version, not the one released in the U.S. That would mean controversy in the first year of the revised rules, since this likely would cause confusion among members, who are instructed to vote only after seeing the applicable version. And members might be sitting at home with two versions, the U.S. release, with Weinstein sending this out as part of their 2013 slate, and then the one released in Asia by the Academy, with members being told they need to watch that one even if they have already viewed the other. Not exactly an easy thing to get them to do.

There is ironically a Weinstein-related case of this, but under much more limited circumstances. "Cinema Paradiso" won the award for 1989 in a longer version released in Italy than was in the U.S. However, that film opened in the U.S. only around the time of its nomination, and was in limited release in early weeks. Until this year, home viewing of nominees wasn't allowed, so those who voted needed to see it at official screenings (although some might have gone to theaters in cities where it had opened already and voted on that basis).

[GeneChing]

What a power team. Oscar-worthy? We shall see.

I'm looking forward to seeing the U.S. edit as well as seeing it on the big screen. I hope some of our SF local forum members and readers can join us for the screening next Monday. Just get there early or you'll get shut out.

[GeneChing]

...but I think I might like the U.S. dumbed down version better. I guess I'm just a dumb American. We'll see. I'm going to the screener tonight. If any other locals are coming via our ticket giveaway, get there early and look for me.


August 15, 2013, 6:12 p.m. ET
'The Grandmaster': A Punched-Up Kung-Fu Saga (http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424127887324769704579011171706230070.html)
The American version of director Wong Kar-Wai's new film tells a different story than the original version.
By DON STEINBERG

http://si.wsj.net/public/resources/images/AR-AD356_Grandm_G_20130815144104.jpg Weinstein Co.

The U.S. edit of 'The Grandmaster' tells a different story than the original Chinese version. Shown, Tony Leung.

Cinema snobs have been suggesting that the U.S. version of "The Grandmaster," Wong Kar Wai's art-house kung-fu film that opens on Aug. 23, is dumbed down from the original version that made its debut in China earlier this year. It has been edited so Americans can understand what's happening amid all the dreamy photography, Chinese history and martial-arts action. This push for clarity isn't necessarily a bad thing, although Mr. Wong and his film's stars put it another, kinder way during their visit to New York this week.

"The U.S. version is more straightforward and linear," Mr. Wong explains. "The Chinese audience is more interested in experiencing the history. In the U.S., it's more about the story."

"I think it's wise for him to do a version for Americans," says Tony Leung, who plays the lead role of Ip Man, the real-life Chinese martial arts grandmaster of the early 20th century who famously was Bruce Lee's childhood instructor. "It's much easier for them to follow."

http://si.wsj.net/public/resources/images/AR-AD337_Grandm_G_20130814174017.jpg
Zhang Ziyi

"In my opinion, I like the American one," says Zhang Ziyi, who in her role as the headstrong Gong Er is Ip Man's (fictitious) romantic interest and fighting rival. "It's clearer. Easier for foreigners."

American fans of import films have learned to brace themselves when overseas arrivals like "The Grandmaster" debut here, hoping that the releases aren't neutered edits of the originals. Like many successful Asian movies in recent years, the film is presented in the U.S. by the Weinstein Co., whose co-chairman Harvey Weinstein has earned the nickname "Harvey Scissorhands" for his insistence that foreign films he distributes be chopped up and remixed to become more amenable to Yankee tastes. (Mr. Weinstein declined to comment for this story.)

Mr. Wong and members of his cast believe many references in the original version might be simply lost on non-Chinese audiences. Mr. Leung says the movie in its original state reminded him of the martial arts novels he grew up reading. "But Westerners can't connect. They don't have this culture," he says. So the U.S. version is less about Chinese tradition and more focused as a narrative about Ip Man.

Some directors are less than thrilled when American distributors request significant alterations. But Mr. Wong's film-building style lends itself to this sort of culturally customized editing, and he says he embraced it. Mr. Wong, whose work as a director/writer includes "Chungking Express" (1994), "In the Mood For Love" (2000), and "2046" (2004), is known for deciding how to arrange the pieces of his films in the editing room, long after the cast and production crew have gone home.

"There's no script. You don't know the schedule," says Ms. Zhang, known for her roles in Ang Lee's "Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon" and Zhang Yimou's "Hero." "Every day before shooting we will get two pages. When we were doing '2046' it was handwriting. Now he's typing."

The Asian version of "The Grandmaster" is 130 minutes long. The European version that premiered at the Berlin International Film Festival in February is 122 minutes. The U.S. cut is down to a tight 108 minutes. "I took it as a challenge," Mr. Wong says. "Instead of doing a short version, I wanted to do a new version. I wanted to tell the story in a different way."

Filming on "The Grandmaster" started in 2009 and consumed 22 months over three years, ending last September. Mr. Wong was inspired when he saw Bruce Lee on a magazine cover in 1997 and later saw a film (then rare, now on YouTube) of an elderly Ip Man displaying some of his moves. Mr. Wong announced his Ip Man project 10 years ago. Meanwhile, action star Donnie Yen has made two films portraying Mr. Ip, and director Herman Yau has made two films about Mr. Ip, nearly turning the martial arts master into a movie superhero. Mr. Wong's only prior martial-arts film, "Ashes of Time" (1994), was a swordsmen-in-ancient-China story about a loss of chivalry. It was produced before the 1997 handover of Hong Kong from the United Kingdom to China, when fears of a break from the past were rife. Mr. Wong came to see "The Grandmaster" as another way to examine how traditions are passed down, or sometimes lost, in an age when China is aggressively modernizing.

The fight scenes remain mostly the same, stylized but with real thump, less ethereal than those in "Crouching Tiger." Much else in "The Grandmaster" has been rearranged for American viewers. Ancillary characters are diminished. Subtitles are tweaked to streamline the plot, which involves rivalries vying to replace an old grandmaster, their coming together during the Japanese occupation that began in the late 1930s, and a romance.

"We were able to replace some of the scenes, specifically in relation to the historical context, with clear and concise captions and narration to help the audience understand the challenges faced between North and South, and especially during the Japanese invasion, " Mr. Wong says. Historical exposition near the beginning of the Chinese version is excised and relegated to a flashback near the end.

"The first 30 minutes of the film are about the old grandmaster, before his retirement, coming to the South. He's going to offer a chance to a local fighter," Mr. Wong explains, laying out a story line he hopes Americans can sink their teeth into. "He's almost like Apollo Creed in 'Rocky.' "

[GeneChing]

I'll have some comments on the screener later today, after I get a few things off my desk.

Wong Kar Wai's 'The Grandmaster': an exile story told through Kung Fu (http://www.reuters.com/article/2013/08/21/entertainment-us-thegrandmaster-idUSBRE97K00M20130821)
http://s1.reutersmedia.net/resources/r/?m=02&d=20130821&t=2&i=770137066&w=460&fh=&fw=&ll=&pl=&r=CBRE97K08H300
Chinese director Kar Wai Wong poses for a portrait while promoting his upcoming movie ''The Grandmaster'' in Los Angeles, California in this July 23, 2013 file photo. REUTERS/Mario Anzuoni/Files

By Eric Kelsey
BEVERLY HILLS, Calif | Tue Aug 20, 2013 11:03pm EDT

(Reuters) - It was a black-and-white home movie of an old man, diminutive and cancer-stricken, performing Chinese martial arts techniques in a Hong Kong apartment that spurred director Wong Kar Wai to make his latest film, the Kung Fu epic "The Grandmaster."

Wong, best known as an auteur of pensive and brooding urban dramas "Chungking Express" and "In the Mood for Love," said he was deeply puzzled by the intentions behind the homemade film of Kung Fu master Ip Man, made days before his death in 1972.

"I keep asking myself why he wanted to do it and much later I realized that there's a saying in Chinese martial arts that's like 'to keep the fire burning,'" Wong, 57, told Reuters.

"So what I think he intended to do is to do this: he wanted to preserve his technique so it can be shared and taught to future generations," the director added.

"The Grandmaster," in U.S. theaters on Friday, is Wong's attempt at sharing that legacy, telling the story of Ip - the trainer of Kung Fu film icon Bruce Lee - as a man whose calling as one of China's martial arts masters was taken from him by the upheaval of World War 2.

Starring longtime Wong collaborator Tony Leung as Ip, the film is divided into three parts that span the Kung Fu master's adulthood in 1930s southern China and his exile in Hong Kong following the Chinese revolution in 1949.

The story of Ip, who was born in Foshan, China, in 1893, has also experienced a revival in recent years with a 2008 biopic and a TV miniseries broadcast earlier this year in Hong Kong, China and other Asian countries.

But Wong said he wanted to differentiate his film, which was released in parts of Asia and Europe earlier this year, from others by conveying technical authenticity, specifically the Wing Chun style of Kung Fu.

"I wanted to make a film about Chinese martial arts in a different way, to tell you more about what is the value of Chinese martial arts," he said, adding that Leung twice broke his arm while training for the role.

Other Chinese martial arts in "The Grandmaster" include Baji and Xinjyi, each characterized by swift and powerful handwork.

FRUSTRATED LOVE AND EXILE

What defines "The Grandmaster" are Wong's trademark themes of frustrated love and exile, his plot-less and episodic storytelling, and sumptuous cinematography by Philippe Le Sourd.

The film, Wong's first attempt at a martial arts movie after 1994's box-office flop "Ashes of Time," also writes in a fictional love story between Ip and Gong Er, the daughter of a Kung Fu grandmaster played by Chinese actress Zhang Ziyi.

"It's so physical and there's an animal quality in it," Wong said about the first sparring match between Ip and Gong, after which Gong pursues him by exchanging letters.

"During that part (the fight), it's like two beautiful animals fighting each other. I think that tells a bit more about this relationship than just a normal romantic story," he said.

Both of the characters are uprooted by the Japanese invasion of China, which began in 1937, and end up reuniting in Hong Kong as refugees in the 1950s, their families in China now dead.

"Gong Er is in a way a symbol of a time that he (Ip) wants to go back to. It's almost like a lost paradise," Wong said.

Their reunion in Hong Kong, to which Wong moved from Shanghai at age 5, punctuates the film's legacy theme amid its masses of dislocated people.

"Hong Kong is a place for all these immigrants after the war," Wong said. "They're coming from all parts of China: north and south, and they come in all walks of life: businessmen, martial artists, intellectuals, politicians."

Wong said he is able to feel this sense of exile handed down from past generations and how they struggled to adapt while also trying to preserve their former life.

"And this film, actually, we trace back even more to see what is the time before Hong Kong, where they came from, what is their life. And you can feel this sense of loss when you compare these two periods," the director said.

(Refile to fix typo in Beverly Hills in dateline)

(Editing by Piya Sinha-Roy and Ken Wills)

[Hebrew Hammer]

Sold me...gonna see it for sure. Don't know if you've seen the Chinese version of Dangerous Liaisons with Zhang Ziyi but she was outstanding in it and the flick was better than the American version.

[doug maverick]

the vice guide to kung fu. so the youtube/hbo docu series VICE. just published this..very interesting

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B1W5bqfYxU0

[GeneChing]

Sorry I didn't get back to this yesterday. Got a little swamped at work.

The U.S. cut is far superior to the original China version. The pacing is much faster, and it doesn't drone on so much at the end. It still slows down towards the end from it's initial pace, which is often a buzzkill for a Kung Fu flick, but perhaps I was more prepared for this and could indulge in it upon the second viewing. It's also a big screen film. Seeing the original China cut on a widescreen TV without a pumped-up sound system does a great disservice to this film. I throughly enjoyed the screener. I recant my January review (http://ezine.kungfumagazine.com/forum/showpost.php?p=1208663&postcount=58) - or rather, I fully endorse the U.S. re-edited version. This is unquestionably the most significant martial arts flick to come out in years. It's not a great action flick. It has some artistic fights but more for their cinematography than their skill (neither Tony or Z are great martial artists). But it is an excellent film.

I might even venture to say that this is the most beautiful Kung Fu movie so far.

I highly recommend seeing the U.S. version in the theater.


Follow the link below for the vid (although it's just a minute teaser of a longer fight scene).

'The Grandmaster': Ziyi Zhang on her intense kung fu training schedule -- EXCLUSIVE PHOTOS, VIDEO (http://insidemovies.ew.com/2013/08/21/the-grandmaster-ziyi-zhang/)

By Laura Hertzfeld on Aug 21, 2013 at 1:29PM @laurahertzfeld
http://img2.timeinc.net/ew/i/2013/08/20/the-grandmaster-02.jpg
Image Credit: The Weinstein Company

Ziyi Zhang is no stranger to serious kung fu moves, after her starring roles in Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon and 2004’s House of Flying Daggers. But training with kung fu master and choreographer Yuen Wo Ping for the upcoming film The Grandmaster? That was a whole other story, she tells EW.
“It was very intensive because [director] Wong Kar-wei didn’t want us to pretend we know a little bit about kung fu — he really wanted us to be the master,” she tells EW about the six-month-long training process. “For this reason, we had to train many hours a day from 4 in the morning to 4 in the afternoon. I had three different kung fu masters to train me. It was like boot camp.”
One scene in particular was very challenging to film. Shot in freezing cold temperatures in northern China, the train-fight scene below took nearly three months to film, Zhang says. Producer Harvey Weinstein is calling the scene “the best fight scene in cinema since the ‘Crazy 88s scene’ in Kill Bill” — which was also choreographed by Ping.


“This fight will be a classic,” Zhang says. “It took three months to shoot because it was extremely intricate; we had to pay great attention to every detail. This all was made more difficult by the harsh cold weather. I couldn’t feel my hands and feet doing the scene.”
But, Zhang says, it was worth it. She first worked with Ping on Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon and is in talks to team up with him again for the sequel. “On one hand he’s a killer kung fu master, and on the other he’s this really kind, gentle, caring person,” she says of the director/choreographer.
The Grandmaster also carried special meaning for Zhang as a celebration of girl power. Her character, Gong Er, challenges kung fu master Ip Man to regain her family’s honor, and their relationship becomes a central theme of the film. “The reaction from the female audience [so far] is that they praise this film and feel strong, identified.”

An additional exclusive still from the film is below.
http://img2.timeinc.net/ew/i/2013/08/20/the-grandmaster-01.jpg
Image Credit: The Weinstein Company

The Grandmaster opens Friday in New York and LA and in wide release on August 30.

[Jimbo]

That last photo looks like a Baji pose.

[GeneChing]

That's pic is Razor, a Baji master. His character gets a little lost in the U.S. edit. He only has one major part, and it's a little anticlimactic. His character is developed a little more in the original version.

The Kung Fu styles are pretty authentic looking throughout this movie, more so than most. Bagua, Xingyi, Hung Ga and Baji are depicted well.

[GeneChing]

A full page ad in the NYT front page section, a half page in arts and another review:


Style and Kinetics Triumph in a Turbulent China (http://movies.nytimes.com/2013/08/23/movies/the-grandmaster-wong-kar-wais-new-film.html?pagewanted=all&_r=0)
‘The Grandmaster,’ Wong Kar-wai’s New Film
NYT Critics' Pick
Weinstein Company
http://graphics8.nytimes.com/images/2013/08/23/arts/23GRAND_SPAN/23GRAND-articleLarge.jpg
The Grandmaster Ziyi Zhang is a kung fu contender in Wong Kar-wai’s film, opening Friday in New York and Los Angeles.
By MANOHLA DARGIS
Published: August 22, 2013

“The Grandmaster,” a hypnotically beautiful dream from the Hong Kong filmmaker Wong Kar-wai, opens with curls of smoke, eddies of water and men soaring and flying across the frame as effortlessly as silk ribbons. The men are warriors, street fighters with furious fists and winged feet, who have massed together on a dark, rainy night to take on Ip Man (Tony Leung), a still figure in a long coat and an elegant white hat. Even amid the violent whirlpools of rain and bodies, that hat never leaves his head. It’s as unyielding as its owner.

Keep your eye on that hat, which retains its iconographic power even when Ip Man takes it off to, say, take down a roomful of opponents. The white hat may be an invention — in many archival photos of the real Ip Man (1893-1972), a revered martial-arts master, he’s bareheaded — but there’s a mythic air to the dashing figure wearing it. However much history informs this movie, “The Grandmaster” is, at its most persuasive, about the triumph of style. When Ip Man slyly asks “What’s your style?” it’s clear that Mr. Wong is asking the same question because here, as in his other films, style isn’t reducible to ravishing surfaces; it’s an expression of meaning.

It’s been five long years since Mr. Wong, one of the greatest filmmakers working today, had a new movie, and it’s a pleasure to have him back. His last, “Ashes of Time Redux,” released in 2008, was new only in that it was a reworking of his 1994 “Ashes of Time,” an elliptical meditation on memory in the cloak of a swordsman movie. Perhaps taking a cue from Francis Ford Coppola’s “Apocalypse Now Redux,” Mr. Wong returned to “Ashes of Time,” stirred it a bit and emerged with an even lovelier version of that signature work. If the first film definitively signaled that his interests transcended genre and conventional narrative, “Redux” largely felt like a necessary palate cleanser after “My Blueberry Nights,” his only English-language film and only dud.

“The Grandmaster” is yet another martial arts movie, though to describe it as such is somewhat like calling “L’avventura” a thriller about a missing woman. Arguments can be made, but would miss the mark. So would expectations of historical fidelity. Predictably, “The Grandmaster” is, given this filmmaker, less a straight biographical portrait of Ip Man and more an exploration of opposing forces like loyalty and love, horizontal and vertical, and the geometry of bodies moving through space and time. Ip Man’s experience as a martial arts master and even as a teacher to Bruce Lee are factors, but when Ip Man isn’t fighting, he transforms into one of Mr. Wong’s philosophers of the heart, one whose life is filled with inchoate longing, poetic observations and complicated women.

Ip Man, sometimes called Yip Man, was born as Ip Kai Man or Yip Kai Man. Mr. Wong makes him 40 when the movie opens in China 1936, and while the historical figure would have been somewhat older, it sounds better when, in voice-over, Mr. Leung explains that if life has four seasons, his first 40 years were spring. Ip Man practices a style of kung fu called wing chun, which is often translated as “beautiful spring.” In the film, his metaphoric season begins with him being called on to demonstrate his style for Gong Baosen (Wang Qingxiang), a grandmaster visiting from the Japanese-controlled north. Having decided to retire, Gong has arrived in Foshan, in the south, for a celebration and an exhibition of the local kung fu talent. His truer intention may be to find the worthiest martial arts successor.

During his visit Gong speaks about the historical rift between the south and north through their martial arts practices, a division that, however entertainingly illustrated in a series of fights, carries unmistakable urgency because of the Japanese occupation, the coming war and, more obliquely, the fissures of the 1949 Communist Revolution. “The Grandmaster” remains rooted in one man’s experiences, but it’s also, unmistakably, a portrait of his country. You don’t learn the names of Ip Man’s children, yet you do learn those of his martial arts adversaries, the good, bad and ugly who stand in for a divided China. His personal life, meanwhile, remains an exquisite abstraction — close-ups of his mournful wife, scenes of domestic bliss and of horror — with none of the visceral realism of his fights.

The fight scenes are by turns kinetic and balletic, and thoroughly sublime. Choreographed by the action maestro Yuen Wo Ping, each has a different cadence, inflection and purpose and, like the numbers in a musical, drive the story or bring it to an enchanted standstill. In one fight, Ip Man clashes with a brothel denizen wearing the tiny shoes of a woman with bound feet. Ginger Rogers only had to dance backward in heels. In another, he uses metal chopsticks to ward off a razor. His greatest opponent will be the old grandmaster’s daughter, Gong Er (Ziyi Zhang), a heartbreaking beauty who makes a loud entrance in Western-style shoes. Once she slips into traditional dress, she flutters into the air like a butterfly, her body arcing against Ip Man’s in an erotic pantomime of yin and yang.

Here, as in Mr. Wong’s earlier films, his sumptuous excesses — the lush music, the opulent rooms, the seductive drift, the thundering blows — both help tell the story and offer something more. When, for instance, Ip Man sits motionless while everyone rushes around him in fast motion, as if he and they were living in different time signatures, it’s an expression of radical isolation that’s so vivid it lingers after the scene ends. Through these different, obviously artificial speed settings, Mr. Wong isn’t simply showing you a man alone or a memorable picture of loneliness; he is also suggesting that this is what the experience of isolation feels like. Again and again in “The Grandmaster,” images become feelings which become a bridge to this distant world.

The version of “The Grandmaster” that opens on Friday is shorter and somewhat different from the one that has played abroad, including at festivals. Explanatory text has been added and some chronology ironed out, which may shed light on a few of the more lurching transitions. Although these changes are said to have been approved by Mr. Wong (consent that may have more to do with contractual obligations than happy compromises), it’s too bad that the American distributor didn’t have enough faith in the audience to release the original. Even in its altered form, “The Grandmaster” is one of the truly galvanizing cinematic experiences of the year, and while I’ve seen this version twice, I am eagerly looking forward to the original in all its unfettered delirium.

“The Grandmaster” is rated PG-13 (Parents strongly cautioned). Mostly nonbloody martial arts violence.

The Grandmaster
Opens on Friday in New York and Los Angeles.

Directed by Wong Kar-wai; written by Zou Jingzhi, Xu Haofeng and Mr. Wong, based on a story by Mr. Wong; director of photography, Philippe Le Sourd; edited by William Chang Suk Ping, Benjamin Courtines and Poon Hung Yiu; music by Shigeru Umebayashi and Nathaniel Mechaly; production design by William Chang Suk Ping and Alfred Yau Wai Ming; produced by Mr. Wong and Jacky Pang Yee Wah; released by the Weinstein Company. In Mandarin, with English subtitles. Running time: 1 hour 48 minutes.

WITH: Tony Leung (Ip Man), Ziyi Zhang (Gong Er), Chang Chen (the Razor), Zhao Benshan (Ding Lianshan), Xiao Shenyang (San Jiang Shui) and Song Hye Kyo (Zhang Yongcheng).

Was there a similar push for the LA release today?

[enoajnin]

There was a quarter page ad on page 3 for the movie of the Calendar section of the LA Times and a review of the movie by the LA Times lead reviewer, Kenneth Turan deep in the Calendar Section. The front of the section was given over to a review of "The World's End"

[GeneChing]

This isn't the Turan review you mentioned, enoajnin


Wong Kar Wai woos kung fu crowd with 'The Grandmaster' (http://www.latimes.com/entertainment/movies/moviesnow/la-edt-mn-ca-wong-kar-wai-grandmaster-20130825,0,5360716.story)
Hong Kong's master of moody romance Wong Kar Wai spent more than six years bringing the tale of martial artist legend Ip Man to the screen with 'The Grandmaster.'

By Mark Olsen
August 23, 2013, 8:00 a.m.

http://www.trbimg.com/img-52177811/turbine/la-la-ca-0819-grandmaster-003-jpg-20130821/600

Wong Kar Wai is known as an international master of moody romance, making films filled with a yearning melancholy. His "In the Mood for Love" was the only film from this century to make the Top 25 of a recent Sight & Sound poll of the greatest films of all time. So news that he was making a kung fu film tracing the life of Ip Man, who would famously go on to train Bruce Lee, caught many of his fans off-guard.

Playing now in Los Angeles, the long-awaited film has already been the biggest commercial hit of Wong's career in China, even with its unlikely combination of a rousing martial arts story and a moving tale of romantic longing.

Wong began his career as a screenwriter, frequently writing fantasy martial arts films. But he researched "The Grandmaster" story for about three years, traveling across China to learn of forms of martial arts. Shooting the film in an arduous 22 months over another three years, he worked with stunt choreographer Yuen Wo Ping, known for his work on "The Matrix" and "Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon," with individual fight scenes taking months to capture on film.

None of his main stars practiced martial arts, and so Tony Leung, Ziyi Zhang and Chang Chen trained tirelessly for the film before and during production. Leung broke his arm while training, waited for it to heal and then broke the same arm again in the same spot on the first day of shooting, forcing the production to shuffle its schedule.

"I just wanted to make a kung fu movie of my kind," Wong said of the film's inspiration. "That's why I needed to spend so much time, I have to understand the world of martial arts. And I feel I have to find my angle to tell the stories."

Unlike martial arts film in the wuxia style, such as "Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon," that are typically set in a fantasy pre-modern era, "The Grandmaster" is set against the specific backdrop of the political upheaval in China from the 1930s to the 1950s, including the Japanese invasion and civil war.

As Ip Man (Leung) trains in the martial arts style known as wing chun, marked by a fluid simplicity, he encounters — and fights — practitioners of other martial-arts styles. Among those is the woman known as Gong Er (Zhang), who has become sole inheritor of her father's dynamic bagua fighting style, though circumstances conspire to keep the two from acting on the attraction between them.

During a recent rare trip to Los Angeles from his home in Hong Kong, Wong, 57, sat on the patio of a hotel in Beverly Hills, inhaling a steady stream of cigarettes and wearing his signature sunglasses. (He owns only one pair, he said, custom-made for him by a Japanese artisan who also makes samurai swords.) He is open and engaging, yet like his movies can take an unexpected turn toward something more enigmatic.

"The Grandmaster" is Wong's first new feature film since 2007's English-language excursion, "My Blueberry Nights," in which a young woman drifts across America. "The Grandmaster" was first publicly shown in Los Angeles over the summer at a packed screening at the Motion Picture Academy hosted by Matthew Weiner.

Weiner introduced Wong by noting that his films "have a unique pace, an attention to visual detail, subtle humor and are most notably populated with characters whose behaviors are as rich in human scale as the environments they occupy." If the connection between the men was not immediately apparent, it was as if Weiner could have easily been describing his own "Mad Men."

Weiner added, "I watch his films and I connect to their honesty, their beauty and above all their originality. I, like most people who watch his work, become overwhelmed by an intimacy that I thought only existed in real life."

Pursuing answers

For Wong, the idea of a serious kung fu film — "It's hardcore," he said — is not as unusual within his filmography as it might seem. In the interview, the day after the academy screening, when asked what to him makes a Wong Kar Wai film, he said simply, "Something that answers my questions."

He added, "I have so many fascinations about this. How good is it, where do martial arts come from, what is the value of this? And when I finally finish the film, it's like I have an answer. They have certain wisdoms that I think are lost today and I think should be revisited."

Wong's working style is frequently described as improvisational, leading to his notoriously long shoots and protracted editing process. He seems to prefer thinking that he is finding his film by making it, and despite the presence of stunt teams and large scale sets for the project, he made "The Grandmaster" in his own way.

"Wong Kar Wai is Wong Kar Wai," said Leung, who has been working with the director for more than 20 years.

"It's kind of an adventure for us every time," said Leung of their ongoing collaboration. "Fortunately for me, this time I'm lucky to have a real guy to base the character on, and he gave me a lot of information for my preparation."

The film's cinematographer, Philippe Le Sourd, had previously worked with Wong on shorter projects, but this was the first feature film he shot for the director.

"We started step by step," Le Sourd said of the film's shoot, which found them traveling throughout China. "You don't have a full script. You know when you'll start, and each day you know the location. It's almost building the story shot by shot. For Kar Wai, it is trying to discover it for himself."

The film opening in the U.S. is 20 minutes shorter than what was released in China. (A version in between those two cuts was screened at the Berlin Film Festival.) For a filmmaker known for his exacting, relentless work in the editing room, he welcomed the chance to keep at it.

"I won't say the U.S. version is the short version," Wong said. "It's not just shorter. I tell the story in a different way. In a way, it's more linear, it's a compact version."

And though Wong said he does not know what his next film will be, he feels satisfied the years of work have come to fruition with "The Grandmaster." "I know I'm not going to make many kung fu films," Wong said. "This may be the only kung fu film I make, I don't know. I want to put everything I know about kung fu films into this film."

[enoajnin]

I saw that, too. It seems to be more of a piece about the picture making rather than a review of the picture.

[enoajnin]

I found this online as well



By Kenneth Turan, Los Angeles Times Film Critic

August 22, 2013, 3:51 p.m.

"The Grandmaster" is like a meal of all desserts, with maybe the tiniest bit of protein thrown in. You'll feel decadent enjoying it, but everything is so tasty, it would be foolish to object.

An exercise in pure cinematic style filled with the most ravishing images, "The Grandmaster" finds director Wong Kar-wai applying his impeccable visual style to the mass-market martial arts genre with potent results. He's found a way to join the romantic languor of his earlier films like "In the Mood for Love" with the fury of Bruce Lee.

Working with his alter ego, actor Tony Leung, and an impressive Ziyi Zhang — and leaving the action choreography to the masterful Yuen Woo-ping ("The Matrix," "Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon") — Wong indulges in mythmaking on the grandest scale.

PHOTOS: Summer Sneaks 2013

It is Lee's real-life martial arts teacher, the legendary Ip Man, played by Leung, who is the grandmaster of the title. Though nonfans are likely unaware, we are amid an Ip Man revival: Several films and a TV series have come out of China about this master of the Wing Chun style, and a new film, "Ip Man: The Final Fight," will soon be in theaters as well.

Already Wong's biggest hit ever in mainland China, "The Grandmaster" has, with his approval, been slimmed by 22 minutes for American audiences. The director says that with this cut, the film has been "finessed into more of an emotional, human story."

The narrative has been tidied up with the addition of intertitles explaining Chinese history, a new voice-over read by Leung, and on-screen character identifiers, all intended to make the story clearer to those not already in the know.

All this matters less than it might because the narrative turns out to be "The Grandmaster's" least essential element, serving as little more than a way to link the string of action tableaux that are the film's raison d'être. (Indeed, when people are talking, their dialogue leans heavily on aphorisms like "a well-matched opponent is like a long-lost friend" and "mastery has three stages: being, knowing, doing" — musings that would not be out of place on the old David Carradine-starring "Kung Fu" TV series.)

PHOTOS: Hollywood backlot moments

The saga begins in 1936, and though Chinese martial arts schools have traditionally been divided into north and south by the Yangtze River, a northern master named Gong Baosen (Wang Qingxiang) has headed south to the city of Foshan to seek a rapprochement before he retires.

Ip Man, as it turns out, is the most respected name in the southern school of Wing Chun. A family man and gentleman of leisure who's devoted himself to the martial arts, he hangs out in the Gold Pavilion, the local brothel and gambling den where, the saying goes, many a man has "entered a prince and exited a pauper."

Before we really find out much about Ip, we see him in action. "The Grandmaster" opens with the great man, wearing his trademark snap brim white fedora, taking on a crowd of martial artists who, for no apparent reason, attack him in a driving rainstorm. The scene is a pip, as well it might be: It took 30 successive nights of shooting to get it right.

Leung engaged in martial arts training for three years to prepare for this role. It paid off not only in the imperturbable self-confidence he brings to his movements but also in how effective he is in one particular sequence where masters of four martial arts styles — hong ga, bagua, xingyi and baji, if you care to know — try to catch him off guard with moves with names like the Crushing Fist. It's not going to happen.

PHOTOS: Celebrities by The Times

The most emotional fights in "The Grandmaster," however, involve Gong Baosen's firecracker daughter Gong Er (played by Zhang of "Crouching Tiger"). The mistress, we are told, of the deadly 64 Hands fighting technique (not to be confused with her father's Old Monkey Hangs Up His Badge moves), Gong Er's passionate temper gives Zhang the opportunity to make the film's strongest impression.

Gong Er displays her artistry in two very different fights. The first is an elegantly photographed battle with Ip Man himself, where the twirling combatants half fall in love with each other as they trade graceful feints and jabs (Philippe Le Sourd is the cinematographer).

The second, more serious battle is a ferocious struggle with her adopted brother Mo San (Zhang Jin) that takes place on a snowy train platform late at night, a situation that somehow echoes a scene from "Doctor Zhivago."

For a martial arts extravaganza, that is elevated company indeed.

[doug maverick]

34min interview with VICE http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7rXZCuo2MVQ&list=TLFSEyJt6YANk

[GeneChing]

Here's the WSJ review.

August 19, 2013, 7:30 p.m. ET
Tony Leung, in the Mood for Kung Fu (http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424127887324108204579023020597748130.html)

By
BARBARA CHAI
CONNECT

Like many boys growing up in Hong Kong, Tony Leung was a fan of Bruce Lee from a young age.

But it wasn't until he played the kung fu master's teacher that he understood the man—or kung fu, for that matter.

In "The Grandmaster," opening in New York on Friday, Mr. Leung plays Ip Man, the martial-arts master who taught a core group of disciples, including Lee. Ip Man, who was raised in Southern China but later moved to Hong Kong, isn't as well-known as Lee stateside, but he too has been immortalized in film, most notably by Donnie Yen in 2008's "Ip Man."

Tony Leung takes on the role of Ip Man in 'The Grandmaster.'

To create an original interpretation, Mr. Leung took a tip from "Grandmaster" director and longtime collaborator Wong Kar-wai (this is their seventh film together): Blend the master teacher with the master student.

"When you look at the books of Bruce Lee or his letters and interviews, a lot of his inspiration came from Ip Man," Mr. Wong said. "I think it's a very good approach to show the audience where the inspiration came from. Who made Bruce Lee who he was?"

As a result, Mr. Leung studied not only Ip Man's martial-arts technique—suffering a broken arm twice during training—he also read Lee's extensive writings. "It helped me not to just have the look of a grandmaster, but have the state of mind and the soul of the grandmaster," he said.

Though no stranger to demanding roles (he played a cuckolded man drawn toward a neighbor in "In the Mood for Love," then a political agent entangled with a spy in Ang Lee's NC-17-rated "Lust, Caution"), Mr. Leung had plenty of time to prepare for "Grandmaster." He began kung fu training over a year before production, and shooting stretched out over three years.

He spoke with the Journal about staying in character over that period, nonviolent action scenes and how a sickly-looking Mr. Wong helped him press on. Excerpts from the conversation:

You were familiar with Bruce Lee before filming, but how much did you know about kung fu?

http://si.wsj.net/public/resources/images/NY-CN358_SPEAK__DV_20130819173056.jpg
Actor Tony Leung

I thought kung fu was just a fighting technique, but after I finished this movie, I know it's not just a self-defense method but also a lot of philosophy. A mind-cultivation practice. You can apply it to life. During the transformation of kung fu, it was greatly influenced by Taoism and Zen. What attracts me at the end is not the techniques. I was attracted by the mind training. It's very much like meditation.

Were you spiritual before this?

I'm Buddhist, so I meditate sometimes. I find there's a lot of similarity between Taoism and Buddhism. But the spiritual side of kung fu cannot be learned just by reading books. You cannot learn it by fact-finding and instruction.

You were in character as Ip Man for about four years. How was it?

I started almost 1.5 years before shooting. This was the most enjoyable work with Wong Kar-wai, because before, I never had any information about my character. This time, it's based on a real character, and Kar-wai did a lot of research.

You have a few epic battle scenes, but other times it looks like we're watching you execute choreography.

I didn't feel any violence in the movie after I did all the action scenes. This guy is not trying to kill people [laughs]. He just enjoys the art.

So Ip Man is different.

He didn't look like a kung fu man. He looked like a scholar—very refined, very erudite and graceful. I know he lived a very difficult life, but you can still see the dignity in his eyes. I was wondering, how can a guy live life like that? I think kung fu really inspired him.

Was it difficult to leave the character after playing him for four years?

At the end I really wanted to stop, physically and emotionally. Almost a month before the end, I used to say to Kar-wai on the set, "I cannot do it anymore. I have no more energy." But he looked worse than me. He looked so pale and so sick! I had to go on.

After all this, are you still a Bruce Lee fan?

Now I admire him more, not just as a kung fu great but as a thinker. He's still inspiring me.

How so?

I learned all my knowledge from him, to think like a grandmaster. Learning kung fu was always my dream, and I never had a chance because I was not allowed to learn kung fu when I was a kid. My parents thought was there are only two kinds of people who practiced kung fu: policemen and gangsters. Sometimes in life, if you miss that chance, you will never want to learn kung fu again. I never thought I would learn it after 40-something years.

[enoajnin]

The LA Times printed this article in the Calendar section on Sunday.

[GeneChing]

Looks like THR believes TG is still on track for that 600 house release this Friday.

Niche Box Office: Wong Kar-Wai's 'The Grandmaster' Tops Mediocre Weekend (http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/news/niche-box-office-wong-kar-614088)
12:07 PM PDT 8/25/2013 by Pamela McClintock

The Stephenie Meyer-produced "Austenland" remains soft, while Audrey Tautou's French drama "Therese" bombs in its debut.

Hong Kong director Wong Kar-wai's martial arts biopic The Grandmaster topped a subdued weekend at the specialty box office, grossing $132,259 from seven theaters for a location average of $18,894, the best of the weekend for any film.

The bigger test of the movie's strength, based on the life of Wing Chun grandmaster Ip Man, comes next weekend when it expands into a total of 600 theaters or more. The epics stars Tony Leung opposite Zhang Ziyi, and made its world premiere at the Berlin International Film Festival this year. The Weinstein Co. acquired distribution rights to the film from Megan Ellison's Annapurna Pictures.

Grandmaster did best at the AMC Empire theater in New York City, a promising sign for the film's expansion, since the theater plays to both a commercial and art house audience. Otherwise, the film played in art house theaters. In recent days, Harvey Weinstein's company recruited Martin Scorsese and Samuel L. Jackson to present Wong's latest offering.

Grandmaster certainly fared the best of the new films opening in limited runs.
Festival favorite Short Term 12, from director Destin Daniel Cretton, opened to $60,137 from four locations for a location average of $15,034. Cinedigm is releasing the film in the U.S.

French drama Therese, starring Audrey Tautou and based on Francois Mauriac's novel, opened to a dismal $21,040 from six theaters for a location average of $3,507. Distributed in the U.S. by MPI Media, Therese was the closing night film at the 2012 Cannes Film Festival.

Among holdovers, Keri Russell starrer Austenland continued to struggle in its second weekend as it expanded into a total of 23 theaters. Produced by author Stephenie Meyer of Twilight fame, the female-skewing movie grossed $125,978 from 23 theaters for a location average of $5,477 and cume of $185,471. Sony Pictures Classics acquired rights to the film, about a woman who travels to a Jane Austen theme park in England, during the 2013 Sundance Film Festival, where the movie sparked a bidding war.

[GeneChing]

Most of it good. There are a few detractors as always. In this one, a member of the Wu chimes in. ;)

There's a vid if you follow the link.

'The Grandmaster': Romantic Kung Fu Movie Touts 'Love at First Fight' (http://abcnews.go.com/Entertainment/grandmaster-romantic-kung-fu-movie-touts-love-fight/story?id=20070352)
Aug. 26, 2013
By CASSIUS KIM via Nightline

The latest kung-fu movie import hitting American theaters is a love letter to the man who trained Bruce Lee and is tapping into a new generation of kung fu movie lovers.

Directed by Hong Kong auteur Wong Kar Wai, "The Grandmaster" is loosely based on a true story about Ip Man, the martial artist who taught a young Bruce Lee the fundamentals of Wing Chun kung fu.

Starring Chinese actors Tony Leung and Ziyi Zhang, "The Grandmaster," now playing in select theaters nationwide, is a project nearly 10 years in the making and is Wong's homage to the fight films of his youth.

Wong's calling card in films such as "2046" and "Chunking Express" is his visual aesthetic and themes focusing on loss and unrequited love. In "The Grandmaster," Wong adds a healthy dose of intense fight scenes to create a film unlike anything seen before in recent cinema.

"I was always a big fan of Bruce Lee when I was a kid. I always wanted to learn kung fu," said Leung, who plays the title role. At first, Leung said he thought he'd have to train a year before shooting, but in the end, "I spent four years non-stop training."

Zhang plays a female kung fu master torn between her love for Ip Man and her desire to avenge her father's death.

Many of the fight scenes in "The Grandmaster" took place at night, in the rain or in the freezing cold, so the actors had to battle the elements through dozens of shots.

"My fighting scene in the rain is the most difficult scene in my acting career," Leung said, noting they had about 50 overnight shoots in the rain.

"What you see now is very short," he said, but entailed a master shot every night first. "That means you have to fight like 10 people from the end of this street to there, and every take and every angle, may take 27 times."

"There's one scene that was really difficult -- we shot in the train station -- because the weather was so cold," Zhang added. "I always think, 'Wong Kar Wai can choose anywhere he wants,' but he chose the coldest. Every night my hands and my feet were always numb. So if somebody cut off my feet, I wouldn't have felt it."

The dynamic fight scenes of kung fu movies have been a cult following with American audiences since the early 1970s, and none more so than the films starring Bruce Lee. Most would agree that Lee was the catalyst for the collision of Asian and American pop culture, inspiring generations to learn kung fu.

Bruce Lee and kung fu's influence can be seen all over today's pop culture, from Keanu Reeves' mind-bending fight scenes in "The Matrix" trilogy to modern interpretations of kung fu classics, such as the 2000 film, "Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon."

Kung fu influences can also be found in the work of Quentin Tarantino's "Kill Bill" series, and even with a group of rappers from Staten Island, N.Y., who built a music empire around a persona culled from a 1983 martial arts film titled, "Shaolin and Wu-Tang."

"Kung fu always had a part of my life," said Raekwon of The Wu-Tang Clan. "The kid in the movie, he could've been a weakling, but he built his training based on his mentals, and the skills that was in front of him."

And for a master to accept that kid as a student, the kid "had to have that discipline, so it's the same for us within rap music," he said.

"In order to be a great MC, you have to be able to rhyme to any beat that's in your face … go to this concept, or go to that concept, or freestyle, or do whatever," Raekwon added. "It's almost still sharpening your skills at all levels."

And for the group, Bruce Lee was an icon, someone to be greatly admired. "He's a legend, you know what I mean?" Raekwon said.

"The Grandmaster" echoes the thematic legacy of old-school martial arts movies.

"It's just one big storyline that I could relate to, because a lot of these stories are about revenge, or brotherhood, or loyalty," Raekwon said. "It has something to do with something that's really going on in the world today."

It's inspiration from that idea that has stuck with The Wu-Tang Clan through a career that has spanned over two decades. Their new single, "All About You," featuring Estelle, is available now on iTunes and their new album, "Fly International Luxurious Art," drops January 2014.

Though Bruce Lee died 40 years ago, the story of his grandmaster, Ip Man, continues to shape the kung fu legend that endures today.

"I think we're trying show to all the audience in the world to revisit this lost heritage and what is the true spirit of kung fu," Leung said.

"I love to call it, 'love at first fight,'" Zhang added.

[GeneChing]

Alas, how soon they forget Z's role in Hollywood's Rush Hour 2 (http://ezine.kungfumagazine.com/ezine/article.php?article=248)....:rolleyes:

Zhang Ziyi wants more than action (http://sg.entertainment.yahoo.com/news/zhang-ziyi-wants-more-action-102000735.html)
From Cinema Online Exclusively for Yahoo! NewsroomBy Heidi Hsia | From Cinema Online Exclusively for Yahoo! Newsroom – Tue, Aug 27, 2013 6:20 PM SGT

http://l2.yimg.com/bt/api/res/1.2/L8vo6odawHzDqdj6tLKNdg--/YXBwaWQ9eW5ld3M7Y2g9NDAwO2NyPTE7Y3c9NjMwO2R4PTA7ZH k9MDtmaT11bGNyb3A7aD00MDA7cT04NTt3PTYzMA--/http://l.yimg.com/os/publish-images/entertainment/2013-08-27/08799e44-8a43-4e51-8170-c6f4f47ccd2d_630Yahoo_ZhangZiyiaction.jpg From Cinema Online Exclusively for Yahoo! Newsroom - Actress Zhang Ziyi recently revealed why she still won't move to Hollywood despite her popularity in the U.S. (Yahoo! Photo)

27 Aug – Actress Zhang Ziyi recently revealed why she still won't move to Hollywood despite her popularity in the U.S.

The actress, who recently sat down for an interview with NPR, revealed that she is still waiting for the right project from Hollywood that does not require her to do martial arts and action scenes all the time. She was often stereotyped into martial arts and action films because of her Asian descent and her previous works such as "Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon", "Hero" and "The House Of Flying Daggers".

Zhang said, "I'm often offered roles, but they all look similar. I think I can do better than just kicking ass, you know. That's why I really appreciate the opportunity that was given to me [to play Sayuri] in "Memoirs Of A Geisha"."

She added that the movie opens the window for her to show the world that she can do more than just action scenes.

Meanwhile, the actress also talked about her role as Gong Er in "The Grandmaster", saying, "In the old days in China, females were not allowed to learn kung fu. But Gong Er's father taught her secretly, and she became a grandmaster who learned how to be her own person and do what she feels is right. She is a strong character."

The actress revealed that she was urged to say yes to the project despite the duration it took to finish the film just because it was a Wong Kar-wai project, and added, "You cannot say 'no' to Wong Kar-wai. It's like when Steven Spielberg offers you a role. You have to say 'yes' right away."

[GeneChing]

Although if you follow the forum here, you probably already know my opinion on this.

Is THE GRANDMASTER the next Crouching Tiger? (http://www.kungfumagazine.com/ezine/article.php?article=1122)

[doug maverick]

Alas, how soon they forget Z's role in Hollywood's Rush Hour 2 (http://ezine.kungfumagazine.com/ezine/article.php?article=248)....:rolleyes:

gonna write a more critical introspective(dont want to call it a review) of this film for my blog.. but needless to say i liked it. it was way better then ip man 2. and unlike the donnie yen ip man movies it wasnt like ip man beats all the foreign devils kind of thing.. we actually see him lose a fight, to a woman no less and he takes it in stride like a true master. it really should be called THE GRANDMASTERS, plural because the story is about more then one master. i loved the baji guy, wish we got more of him, that fight scene was great. the action was typical over the top yuen woo ping fan fair. not as good as sammo's ground fight scenes but much more involved.. yuen has this mastery where he makes you feel every hit. like gene has stated the american cut is superior to the original..sorry purest it just is.

[GeneChing]

I'd be interested in reading your take on it.

The re-edit has certainly polarized some critics. I suspect that most of the critics haven't seen both versions. Either that, or they are film students who idolize WKW. I respect WKW, but I'm definitely not part of that camp. While I've enjoyed some of his other films, I find most of his stuff long-winded and ultimately boring.

On the side of those purists, I agree that Razor was a great character and there's development of him in the original version. That's probably the main sacrifice of the U.S. re-edit. But then again, the original has a scene of Leung cleaning out his ears that was thankfully deleted from the U.S version. The film was already really long and WKW wanted me to watch that? Sometimes you got to trim the branches to make the tree grow straight.

[doug maverick]

I'd be interested in reading your take on it.

The re-edit has certainly polarized some critics. I suspect that most of the critics haven't seen both versions. Either that, or they are film students who idolize WKW. I respect WKW, but I'm definitely not part of that camp. While I've enjoyed some of his other films, I find most of his stuff long-winded and ultimately boring.

On the side of those purists, I agree that Razor was a great character and there's development of him in the original version. That's probably the main sacrifice of the U.S. re-edit. But then again, the original has a scene of Leung cleaning out his ears that was thankfully deleted from the U.S version. The film was already really long and WKW wanted me to watch that? Sometimes you got to trim the branches to make the tree grow straight.


like i said on facebook..this is what happens when you gestate on a film, and you are shooting and shooting, and writing and writing.. and eventually you get lost on wtf the film is about. that happened with out of africa..they just kept shooting and shooting..you lose your way and sometimes you need someone from the outside to look and say hey i found it(the movie).

[GeneChing]

Whether it be filmmaking, writing, or even composing Kung Fu forms, it's easy to loose your way in the artistic process. That's why there is so much bad art.

Personally, I feel WKW is a different case. He's an artist's artist. There's a lot of film buffs that totally adore his work. To me, it's kind of like good jazz. You really need to know the media to understand what he's doing. That gets lost on the average moviegoer. And the Kung Fu genre, barring a few exceptions like this film, doesn't typically attract the arts set. The appeal of a Kung Fu movie is more basic - good fight scenes. The Grandmaster delivers some good fights, especially when the context of the fights is concerned. But the original version is just too **** long in the end. It's like a Kung Fu flick on morphine. Who, besides those adoring WKW fans, wants to watch that? Surely not fans of action films.

[GeneChing]

And on for Labor Day Weekend. I may just have to go out and see this again to support it. My wife was interested, and any time I can get her to watch a Kung Fu movie is fantastic.


Box Office: Selena Gomez’s ‘Getaway’ Looks to Bottom Out (http://variety.com/2013/film/news/box-office-selena-gomezs-getaway-looks-to-bottom-out-1200592142/)
August 29, 2013 | 02:13PM PT
Disney alum's box office cred isn't expected to improve with modest-tracking 'Getaway'
Andrew Stewart
Film Reporter @Variety_Stewart

Despite “Spring Breakers” becoming a surprise indie hit earlier this year, Selena Gomez has yet to convert her Disney cachet into major box office coin. Her Labor Day weekend actioner “Getaway” is poised to putter past the starting line with a projected debut well under $10 million.
Get Selena Gomez News and alerts free to your inbox

Gomez’s most ardent fans could push the Warner Bros.-Dark Castle film toward $6 million-$8 million over four days, making it the young star’s lowest-grossing wide opening to date. Most teens will be preoccupied this weekend with Sony’s music doc “One Direction: This Is Us,” which looks to win the weekend with $20 million-plus through the Monday holiday.

Attempting to satisfy more sophisticated palates, Focus Features’ adult thriller “Closed Circuit” bowed Wednesday, but will only gross $5 million, at best, in six days. The film started with a paltry nearly $250,000 opening day gross.

Not surprisingly, “One Direction” led advanced ticket sales Thursday, according to one online ticketer, with the Weinstein Co.’s “Lee Daniels’ The Butler” trailing in pre-sales.

After spending two weekends at No. 1, “The Butler” should drop to second place, likely grossing around $12 million in four days. Pic’s totaled nearly $56 million so far domestically.

With auds spending much of Labor Day weekend outdoors, the four-day frame typically is one of the slowest at the box office. Genre films targeted at younger auds sometimes overperformed though: last year, Lionsgate’s scarer “The Possession” earned the second-highest Labor Day gross, with $21 million in four days.

“One Direction,” which bows at 2,735 Stateside locations, represents a low-risk project for Sony, budgeted for approximately $10 million. The music doc is dominating in social media, and there’s not likely to be much cannibalization from the “Getaway” aud given the thriller’s 0% rating on Rotten Tomatoes.

The $18 million-budgeted thriller, co-starring Ethan Hawke, who had a hit earlier this summer with “The Purge,” is depending on Gomez to help broaden its appeal to younger auds. The former Disney star’s online profile was heightened this week reacting to Miley Cyrus’ controversial performance at the VMAs, which Gomez attended.

Still, Gomez’s highest-grossing live-action film, Fox’s “Ramona and Beezus,” topped out at just $26 million in 2010. March release “Spring Breakers” — which starred another Disney alum Vanessa Hudgens — managed to tap into the youthful demo, reaching $14 million domestic.

Hoping to attract Hispanic adults this weekend, Lionsgate-Pantelion bows family comedy “Instructions Not Included,” starring Eugenio Derbez, at 347 theaters.

The Weinstein Co.’s martial arts pic, “The Grandmaster,” expands Friday to nearly 750 Stateside locations. The film got off to a solid last weekend at seven runs, averaging almost $19,000 per theater. “Grandmaster” has grossed $181,710 million domestically through Thursday.

[Raipizo]

And on for Labor Day Weekend. I may just have to go out and see this again to support it. My wife was interested, and any time I can get her to watch a Kung Fu movie is fantastic.

I don't even know if it's showing around me, I take it's select theaters? I only saw the commercial for it I believe once. (Just noticed the whole state side thing)

[doug maverick]

Whether it be filmmaking, writing, or even composing Kung Fu forms, it's easy to loose your way in the artistic process. That's why there is so much bad art.

Personally, I feel WKW is a different case. He's an artist's artist. There's a lot of film buffs that totally adore his work. To me, it's kind of like good jazz. You really need to know the media to understand what he's doing. That gets lost on the average moviegoer. And the Kung Fu genre, barring a few exceptions like this film, doesn't typically attract the arts set. The appeal of a Kung Fu movie is more basic - good fight scenes. The Grandmaster delivers some good fights, especially when the context of the fights is concerned. But the original version is just too **** long in the end. It's like a Kung Fu flick on morphine. Who, besides those adoring WKW fans, wants to watch that? Surely not fans of action films.

but think about how much dialogue this film has cause vs. say donnie yens ip man. which is more like fights were great it was cool the end... this film you feel a certain way about it and it causes a reaction whether its negative or a positive... people shouldnt feel indifferent about art.. you should like it, hate it, or be confused..lol

[GeneChing]

In that sense of opening discussion, The Grandmaster truly is an 'art' film. And don't get me wrong. I do enjoy art film. I'm just not a big fan of WKW. That being said, I've seen several WKW films, and you'd think if I didn't like his work, I'd stop. Such is art, right? You're spot on. Here you and I are big fans (and critics) of the genre, and here we are in dialogue about it.

You've fleshed out a point that I should have included in my review. WKW has created an 'art film,' which is quite different than a 'martial art film'. For most martial artists, especially lately, the suffix 'art' in martial art is vestigial. That's where the U.S. version of The Grandmaster succeeds. It transforms an 'art' film into a film that fans of the martial art genre can enjoy. I still think he failed miserably with Ashes of Time (http://ezine.kungfumagazine.com/forum/showthread.php?t=52184) for martial artists. That's another staggeringly beautiful film, but I wouldn't recommend it to many martial artists, only the arty ones.

@Raipizo: according to Box Office Mojo (http://www.boxofficemojo.com/movies/?id=grandmasters.htm), The Grandmaster is being released in 749 theaters for Labor Day Weekend. That's a decently-sized national release. Hopefully one is near you.

[doug maverick]

In that sense of opening discussion, The Grandmaster truly is an 'art' film. And don't get me wrong. I do enjoy art film. I'm just not a big fan of WKW. That being said, I've seen several WKW films, and you'd think if I didn't like his work, I'd stop. Such is art, right? You're spot on. Here you and I are big fans (and critics) of the genre, and here we are in dialogue about it.

You've fleshed out a point that I should have included in my review. WKW has created an 'art film,' which is quite different than a 'martial art film'. For most martial artists, especially lately, the suffix 'art' in martial art is vestigial. That's where the U.S. version of The Grandmaster succeeds. It transforms an 'art' film into a film that fans of the martial art genre can enjoy. I still think he failed miserably with Ashes of Time (http://ezine.kungfumagazine.com/forum/showthread.php?t=52184) for martial artists. That's another staggeringly beautiful film, but I wouldn't recommend it to many martial artists, only the arty ones.

@Raipizo: according to Box Office Mojo (http://www.boxofficemojo.com/movies/?id=grandmasters.htm), The Grandmaster is being released in 749 theaters for Labor Day Weekend. That's a decently-sized national release. Hopefully one is near you.

hey gene, can i quote you in my "introspective"? gathering some notes now. to write it. and thats a great little insight.

the grandmaster is already in almost every theater in nyc...thats huge,.

[GeneChing]

...and even more delighted if you threw a hyperlink back to KungFuMagazine.com.

It's out all over the SF Bay Area too, all through the multiplexes. It's also playing at a little art theater house that my wife really likes, so I'm going to try to talk her into seeing it this weekend. I'm eager to get her opinion as she's rather critical, especially when it comes to martial arts....I wonder why :rolleyes:

[sanjuro_ronin]

Haven't seen this yet, but the last few reviews have peaked my interest.
The trailers look a bit, well...how can I see it? the fighting looks a bit too iffy for my taste.
I mean, I am being too snobbish to expect a lead Asian MA actor to be as good as Donnie?

[doug maverick]

Haven't seen this yet, but the last few reviews have peaked my interest.
The trailers look a bit, well...how can I see it? the fighting looks a bit too iffy for my taste.
I mean, I am being too snobbish to expect a lead Asian MA actor to be as good as Donnie?

tony leung is not an MA actor..he is an actor. far superior to donnie in that regard. the fights were more impactful here in my opinion.. you really feel them. obiovusly its yuen woo ping and not sammo so it has a floetry to it.


and gene hyperlink..done.

[GeneChing]

If you think you'll be disappointed because Tony Leung can't fight as well as Donnie Yen, well, you should just stop going to martial arts movies unless Donnie is in them. The choreography and editing makes the fights in The Grandmaster enjoyable, but they don't have any martial virtuosos on Donnie's level. Honestly, how many films can claim that? Donnie is at the top of his game now. I can hardly wait for his next flicks to drop. That's too high of a standard for fight choreography.

There are great martial arts films, and then there are great films that have martial arts in them. The Matrix is a good example of the latter. The fights in The Grandmaster are better than that however, especially if you know Kung Fu. There's some nice showcases of authentic traditional styles. And the opening rain fight with Cung Le is beautifully shot. Martially speaking, it's not a stunning display of fighting skill, but cinematically, it's a great scene.

[doug maverick]

If you think you'll be disappointed because Tony Leung can't fight as well as Donnie Yen, well, you should just stop going to martial arts movies unless Donnie is in them. The choreography and editing makes the fights in The Grandmaster enjoyable, but they don't have any martial virtuosos on Donnie's level. Honestly, how many films can claim that? Donnie is at the top of his game now. I can hardly wait for his next flicks to drop. That's too high of a standard for fight choreography.

There are great martial arts films, and then there are great films that have martial arts in them. The Matrix is a good example of the latter. The fights in The Grandmaster are better than that however, especially if you know Kung Fu. There's some nice showcases of authentic traditional styles. And the opening rain fight with Cung Le is beautifully shot. Martially speaking, it's not a stunning display of fighting skill, but cinematically, it's a great scene.

thats anothing i have to talk about these theme of weather and action.. if it was snowing or raining you knew some **** was about to go down..lool

[student99]

Can anyone explain the battle in the rain with the "Razor"? Why was he fighting and who he was fighting? If they where Chinese why did they attack him with Japanese blades?

Those details where not covered in the version I saw. I know the director has the final say on how the story is told but I did not understand the details.

[GeneChing]

Razor is the biggest red herring character of the film. I totally expected his role to go somewhere, but in classic WKW fashion, he just sort of drifts away.

In the Chinese version, I thought he was going to be another point in a love triangle, but that never quite happens.

In the U.S. version, Razor is lined up to be a major villain, but also fades, although not quite as 'I forgot about him' as in the Chinese version. There is a final fight between him and Ip, but it is resolved poetically, not violently. That was one of the themes of The Grandmaster that I really liked, that old school notion of duelling not by fighting directly, but by fighting over some goal like breaking/preserving a cookie.

Anyway, Razor is another reason why I support the U.S. version more. In the U.S. version, he makes a little more sense and propels the story forward. In the Chinese version, he dangles rather indifferently in a most WKW fashion.

There's a ton of reviews on the web now. Half of them review the Chinese version and the other half, the U.S. version. You can tell the more seasoned critics because the reference both versions. Of course, the Chinese version came out much earlier (as you can read on this thread) so the reviews that are more than a few weeks older than this post are all of the Chinese version. They are exempt from my 'seasoned critics' comment as they couldn't have predicted the U.S. version.

[doug maverick]

was going to see this a 4th time.. yes fourth as i have now seen the chinese version twice and i wanted to see the american version one more time.. but they are showing a screening of the prodigal son, in theaters sooo.. sorry american version...lol..i might go anyway.

[Vajramusti]

FWIW- I saw the movie last Friday.IMO. it was a good movie- a classic impressionistic portrayal of Ip man in a cultural anl comparative kung fu setting in an era that is petty well gone.Well acted, produced and directed.
The romantic episodes are bit too drawn out, but overall a good movie-the best to date on Ip Man.

[Hebrew Hammer]

I also saw the American version of this film in the theater this weekend and The Grandmaster comes across as smooth, internal style, martial arts flick. The action is not over the top, in fact I found it somewhat subdued but appropriate for this film. The acting is fab, especially from my home girl Zhang Ziyi, she always has an incredible ability to convey emotion or passion, you believe she is the character being portrayed. It has the classic Chinese martial themes of loyalty, revenge and forbidden love. You will not be disappointed in seeing this film.

My hats off to fans of WC and Ip Man, the films about his life are amongst the best in recent history. Makes me wish I enjoyed WC more, the style doesn't speak to me but the films do. Bravo. If only the Choy Lee Fut film was anywhere near as good as any of Ip Man films. I can dream.

I will see the a Chinese version when available.

8 Bawangs out of 10.

[GeneChing]

But you're ahead of me by one extra viewing of the Chinese version. I considered going back for it - I still might. BTW, my wife thought there were too many fight scenes. I'm not sure if she said that just to irk me. She enjoyed it, but she felt it was a little overdone melodramatically.

On my third viewing, I gained more respect for what WKW was doing, but every line started to feel like Kung Fu Fortune Cookie (http://ezine.kungfumagazine.com/forum/showthread.php?t=55995) wisdom. But still, it's a significant martial arts film, and you can't really call yourself a fan of the genre without engaging this one now.


Weekend Report: 'One Direction' Rocks, 'Instructions' Surprises Over Labor Day (http://www.boxofficemojo.com/news/?id=3721&p=.htm)
by Ray Subers
September 1, 2013

Over a busier-than-expected three-day weekend, 3D concert flick One Direction: This is Us narrowly took first place at the box office ahead of Lee Daniels' The Butler. Including Labor Day, however, The Butler ultimately came out on top over the holiday weekend.

The big story, though, is the incredible performance of Spanish-language family comedy Instructions Not Included, which wound up in fifth place despite playing in fewer than 400 theaters.

While it was down year-to-year, overall business still came in at a solid level this weekend (the top 12 earned an estimated $92.6 million for the three-day frame). The riches were spread across a ton of titles: over the three-day weekend, 24 different movies grossed over $1 million.

Playing at 2,735 theaters, One Direction: This is Us opened in first place with an estimated $15.8 million ($18 million four-day). That's way off from the concert movies featuring Miley Cyrus, Justin Bieber and Michael Jackson, all of which started with over $23 million. Still, it's noticeably ahead of concert movie flops from Katy Perry and the Jonas Brothers, and is a good figure for an inexpensive movie with a targeted (cheap) marketing campaign.

Sony geared that marketing effort directly at the British boy band's rabid young female fanbase, and they're the ones who accounted for most of the ticket sales: the audience was 87 percent female and 65 percent under the age of 17. They gave the movie a strong "A" CinemaScore, though that's not necessarily indicative of the movie's long-term prospects. More importantly, the movie had the highest Friday share of opening weekend ever (55.8%), which suggests it's going to be very front-loaded.

In second place, The Butler continued its excellent run by adding an estimated $14.9 million ($20 million four-day). To date, the historical drama has earned $79.3 million, and it now appears on pace to finish above $100 million.

Comedy hit We're the Millers earned $12.7 million this weekend ($15.9 million four-day) for a new total of $112.9 million. This makes it the sixth Jennifer Aniston movie to take in over $100 million at the domestic box office.

Opening at just 347 theaters, Instructions Not Included took fourth place with an incredible $7.8 million this weekend ($10 million four-day). That's significantly higher than other Spanish-language movies from Lionsgate's Pantelion division—Girl in Progress and No Eres Tu, Soy Yo earned just $2.6 million and $1.34 million, respectively, in their entire runs. Instructions star Eugenio Derbez also appeared in those movies, which makes Instructions's huge debut even more remarkable by comparison.

Not only do Hispanics represent a growing percentage of the U.S. population, but they also account for a disproportionately high amount of movie theater ticket sales. According to the Motion Picture Association of America's 2012 theatrical market report, Hispanics made up 17 percent of the population, but 26 percent of frequent moviegoers. In spite of this, there are very few movies made each year that are specifically targeted towards Hispanics.

Simply reaching out to Hispanics isn't enough, though, as proven by the low grosses of Girl in Progress and No Eres Tu, Soy Yo. It's also important that the story resonates, and Instructions Not Included's focus on family seems to have clicked with the audience.

The movie received a rare "A+" CinemaScore, which suggests that it could play well in the long-term. With great word-of-mouth and an incredible per-theater average, it wouldn't be surprising at all if Lionsgate attempts to expand this in to nationwide release next weekend.

Meanwhile, the weekend's other new openers bombed hard. Getaway opened in ninth place with just $4.5 million ($5.53 million four-day), which is on par with Dark Castle Entertainment's Bullet to the Head. The movie never looked particularly good, had a light marketing effort, and received awful reviews, so this debut is about in line with expectations. It received an awful "C+" CinemaScore, and should disappear from theaters quickly.

Playing at 870 theaters, Closed Circuit earned just $2.54 million over the three-day weekend. Including its Wednesday/Thursday grosses, the movie has so far grossed $3.06 million. Even taking in to account the light release, this debut is noticeably worse than that of past Focus Features Labor Day movies like The Constant Gardener, The American and The Debt.

After a week in limited release, The Grandmaster expanded to 749 theaters and earned $2.48 million this weekend ($3.12 million four-day).

As part of a double-bill with Star Trek Into Darkness, World War Z finally passed $200 million at the domestic box office this weekend. Meanwhile, Pacific Rim inched past $100 million.

[doug maverick]

But you're ahead of me by one extra viewing of the Chinese version. I considered going back for it - I still might. BTW, my wife thought there were too many fight scenes. I'm not sure if she said that just to irk me. She enjoyed it, but she felt it was a little overdone melodramatically.

On my third viewing, I gained more respect for what WKW was doing, but every line started to feel like Kung Fu Fortune Cookie (http://ezine.kungfumagazine.com/forum/showthread.php?t=55995) wisdom. But still, it's a significant martial arts film, and you can't really call yourself a fan of the genre without engaging this one now.

thats in my little write up which will be out later today.. sometimes the dialogue felt like they were talking in poetry... and im like are they talking in code? is there a drug deal going down? wth is this?

[GeneChing]

it's all about Z on the O.P. ;)

[Jimbo]

I finally got to see it, and enjoyed it quite a bit. I have to agree about the fortune cookie dialogue, though. I was noticing how extensive it was by about halfway through. It almost seemed akin to early 20th-century British people scripted to speak Shakespearean.

I really liked that other styles besides Wing Chun got to shine a bit. WC is fine, but recent films have been over-saturated with it. It was a small surprise to see Lau Ka-Yung (nephew of Lau Kar-Leung and Lau Kar-Wing) as the Hung Gar/Monkey stylist. I only wish that CLF had been a featured art.

The movie was every bit as much about Zhang Ziyi's character as Ip Man. And I thought Tony Leung did a great job in the role. He's one of those actors who can communicate a lot without saying many words.

[doug maverick]

so in writing my little ode to "the grandmaster" ive decided to include some video from behind the scenes.. and gene was right he was set up to be ip mans nemesis but i think because tony leung broke his arm they had to make some changes http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=86f0CbmnCGw

[GeneChing]

And just under $5 million domestic take, according to Box Office Mojo. (http://www.boxofficemojo.com/movies/?page=weekend&id=grandmasters.htm)

[Shaolinlueb]

so should I see this? too many pages to read.

[GeneChing]

Your return is some positive fallout from last weekend's website crash.

And YES, you should see this.

[GeneChing]

To quote myself in my original review of the Chinese cut of this film:

It is a gorgeous film, a filmmaker's film, the kind of film that you can spend hours deconstructing its cinematography if you're a film nerd.


Case & point:

The Necessity of Wong Kar Wai (http://blogs.kqed.org/pop/2013/09/03/the-necessity-of-wong-kar-wai/)
Laura Schadler | September 3, 2013

http://d1lhirsz7m8sbi.cloudfront.net/pop/files/2013/08/the-grandmaster-tony.jpg
Tony Leung in The Grandmaster.

As a 19-year-old film student, when I learned the definition of the word auteur, I was so excited I had to paint it on my stomach, Riot Grrl style, and make a movie about it. Youthful blasphemy aside, I’ve always been drawn to directors whose vision is so strong as to create that distinctive mood which would potentially define them as an auteur. Amidst all the terrible, formulaic crap that comes out, you have to appreciate someone, wholly successful or not, who is actually attempting something. It’s natural that being inventive might result in flawed movies. The risks of making genuinely creative work, with a boldness and experimentation that eschews mainstream concerns, are the sometimes shaky results. But those are the movies I want to watch. Demonstrating both the benefits and the downfall of being an auteur, Wong Kar Wai‘s swirling, vivid films are full of the mistakes, incongruities and strangeness of a visionary.

Fallen Angels (1996) was the first Wong Kar Wai movie I saw and it will be forever seared in my brain. It’s profoundly gorgeous, but the style is also the substance and that’s why it’s so phenomenal. It isn’t just gorgeous; it’s romantic and melancholy, rich with psychological exploration. It’s both cool and sincere simultaneously, a combination that is Wong Kar Wai’s signature strength. He’s clearly still concerned with style; in the closing credits to his newest, The Grandmaster, Tony Leung (a stoically bad-ass Wong Kar Wai regular) looks right at the camera and asks, “What’s your style?” It’s a wonderful moment, playful and serious, a non-rhetorical question, meant to be considered and answered. This isn’t about the surface of style, but the soul of it. In this semi-biopic tale, Leung plays Ip Man, a kung-fu master and Bruce Lee’s teacher, following his life and never-quite-romance with a fictional woman.

http://d1lhirsz7m8sbi.cloudfront.net/pop/files/2013/09/fallen-angels.jpg
Fallen Angels

Watching Fallen Angels was the first time I really fell in love with cinematography. I became riveted by the iconic Christopher Doyle, who shot most of Wong Kar Wai’s movies, beginning with Days of Being Wild (1990) and ending with 2046 (2004). In some ways, my love of Wong Kar Wai movies is my love of Christopher Doyle cinematography. He also shot Last Life in the Universe, a brutal, surrealistic reverie directed by Pen-Ek Ratanaruang and created the memorable palette of Jim Jarmusch’s The Limits of Control. More than once when I’ve watched a notably well-shot film, it ends up being Christopher Doyle behind the camera. He is belligerently charming, calling Life of Pi, “a fu***** insult to cinematography” (Amen) and ranting about the authentic color of moonlight (it’s not blue). Unfortunately if you type Wong Kar Wai and Christopher Doyle into Google, one of the top suggestions is “falling out,” so he’s not the cinematographer for The Grandmaster. I was curious, but nervous, to see a Wong Kar Wai movie without Christopher Doyle’s singular touch.

Wong Kar Wai loves clocks, counters, rain, smoking cigarettes, leaning, stairways, stoicism, loneliness, slow motion, nostalgia and unconsummated everything. The Grandmaster has some of those things (the rain is awesome), but not others. Overall it gets a C+ and the plus is because I was looking for his tell-tale flourishes (they’re there) and forgiving him when other things fell short. A.A. Dowd aptly suggests that the confines of the biopic bogged down a director who thrives within fictional worlds. The need of The Grandmaster to explain everything was tiresome, as if endless voice-overs and chunks of text were necessary for us to follow the story. It was also cut from 130 to 108 minutes and by all accounts the longer version is superior. The confines of chronology and history make the story move inexpertly and incompletely through time.

Still there are moments to love in The Grandmaster, moments where Wong Kar Wai pauses and luxuriates as he should. One fight sequence has Zhang Ziyi flipping up in the air over Tony Leung, their faces centimeters apart, the flip slowed down. It’s a classic moment of Wong Kar Wai’s particular brand of sexiness. In Leung’s voiceover, he says of his initial meeting with her, “All encounters are reunions…” That too is classic Wong Kar Wai, the lonely man narrating a wistful truth to us from off-screen. This particularly beautiful line is nearly a thesis statement for all of his movies, a whispered burst of zen interruption, reminding us of what’s at stake. It kept ringing around in my head for days afterward.

Most of Wong Kar Wai’s movies spend their time illustrating the smokey, shadowy nuance of how we encounter one another, but The Grandmaster doesn’t spend enough time there. I immediately re-watched Days of Being Wild when I got home from watching The Grandmaster. The main character, a sociopathic playboy insists a girl (behind a counter, of course) stand with him for one minute and then proclaims them “one minute friends,” a status that is fact and can never be taken back. Wong Kar Wai has a gift for capturing the sensation of the present moment’s inherent transience. In Chungking Express (1994) the voiceover says, “At our closest point, we were just 0.01cm apart from each other.” At his best, Wong Kar Wai is concerned with examining these smallest of spaces between us. That 0.01 cm is evoked during In The Mood For Love (2000) when Tony Leung and Maggie Cheung pass each other on the staircase in a moment so restrained and sexy it’s nearly too much to handle. The aforementioned flip in The Grandmaster is also about that 0.01 centimeters. The immersion in those moments is why Wong Kar Wai’s movies are breathtaking.

Wong Kar Wai’s first and only English-language film, My Blueberry Nights (2007), was a flop. I hated it along with everyone else I ever spoke to or whose review I read. It was Wong Kar Wai trying to be Wong Kar Wai and it was sad and weird to watch. The Grandmaster is not like that. It’s a smart, careful, beautiful movie in a lot of ways. Some of the fights are spectacular, Ip Man is a fascinating person and I could watch Tony Leung brood for 108 minutes or 130 minutes or however long he felt like it. But one gets the impression that Wong Kar Wai is struggling; rehashing his old tricks isn’t quite enough, but neither is leaving them behind. How can his themes, images and concerns evolve with him? Christopher Doyle had some mean things to say about how long it took to make 2046 and called it an “unnecessary” movie. So, what would a necessary Wong Kar Wai movie look like? While I wouldn’t nominate The Grandmaster as my answer to that question, I’m still glad it exists and am grateful to have seen it in a theatre where all the gold light, speeding trains and slow motion rain drops were lushly delivered on the big screen.

There is something much better, much more vital and true seeming about Days of Being Wild, as compared to The Grandmaster. Chungking Express and Fallen Angels are two of my all-time favorite movies. And yet, I have to believe in the audience allowing an artist to experiment, to struggle as they move forward, to not always just get better and better, but to falter in their attempts. If someone is truly being an artist, as Wong Kar Wai is, then that trajectory seems a more honest one in some ways. He can’t keep trying to make his ’90s movies, nor should he. His concerns are epic, slow motion, aching, beautiful, heart-breaking, life and death concerns. I will gladly watch anything he creates in his attempts to unravel all that. And here’s hoping maybe he and Christopher Doyle make up.

**Days of Being Wild, In The Mood For Love, Happy Together, Fallen Angels and As Tears Go By are all currently available on Netflix Instant. Watch them.

[PalmStriker]

Different take for the serious practitioner: :D http://chinesemartialstudies.com/2013/09/03/the-grand-master-a-disenting-view-by-jon-nielson/

[GeneChing]

It's down to 705 theaters now according to BOM (http://www.boxofficemojo.com/movies/?page=weekend&id=grandmasters.htm).

That's a funny review, PalmStriker. As an editor, I just gotta say - You really question a writer who misspells his title, especially now in the age of auto spell checks.

The “Grand” Master: A Disenting View by Jon Nielson
It's 'DisSenting'. :rolleyes:

I love this quote:

The point I’m trying to make is that I don’t think the film was written to appeal to the serious martial artist. Talk about your martial myopia. Who writes a film like that? And where do those films go? Direct to DVD. :p Plus, just as some advice to any aspiring writers, never say something like "The point I’m trying to make..." If you can write, just make your point. Don't tell me you are 'trying' to make your point. If you cannot make your point, you probably should limit your writing to twitter (https://twitter.com/KFM_KFTC). To quote Yoda, "Do or do not... there is no try."

[GeneChing]

We saw that coming :cool:


Hong Kong sends Grandmaster to Oscars (http://www.filmbiz.asia/news/hong-kong-sends-grandmaster-to-oscars)
http://www.filmbiz.asia/media/BAhbB1sHOgZmSSIsMjAxMy8wOS8yMy8wMC8xNS8wMS81NTIvZ3 JhbmRtYXN0ZXIuanBnBjoGRVRbCDoGcDoKdGh1bWJJIg01MDB4 MTAwMAY7BlQ?suffix=.jpg&sha=d7d349e6
By Kevin Ma
Mon, 23 September 2013, 15:15 PM (HKT)

The Federation of Motion Film Producers of Hong Kong Ltd (香港電影製片家協會) has picked WONG Kar-wai 王家衛's The Grandmaster 一代宗師 as Hong Kong's representative at the Oscars.

The China co-production was chosen over two other finalists: Herman YAU 邱禮濤's Ip Man: The Final Fight 葉問　終極一戰 and Dante LAM 林超賢's Unbeatable 激戰.

The martial arts epic is the second Wong film to be chosen as Hong Kong's representative at the Academy Awards' Best Foreign Film race. The FPA sent In the Mood for Love 花樣年華 (2000) in 2000, but it did not make the list of finalists. Ang LEE 李安's Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon 臥虎藏龍 (2000) earned Taiwan its first Best Foreign Film Oscar that year instead.

According to the screening certificate from the Office for Film, Newspaper and Article Administration, a 104-minute cut was recently submitted to Hong Kong censors. It is likely the same as the US cut that The Weinstein Company recently released in North America.

Several screenings of this cut were held earlier this month in Hong Kong. However, tickets for the screenings – held on weekday mornings – were gone minutes after being made available for sale. The FPA announcement did not mention which version of the film would be submitted to the Oscars.

The Hong Kong theatrical release featured the initial 130-minute cut that was also released in Mainland China, Taiwan and Singapore. A 123-minute international cut premiered at the Berlin International Film Festival and was subsequently released in other territories, including France, Japan and South Korea.

It's down to 473 U.S. theaters and $6+ mill gross according to BOM (http://www.boxofficemojo.com/movies/?id=grandmasters.htm).

[GeneChing]

Hong Kong kungfu drama to compete for Oscar (http://usa.chinadaily.com.cn/china/2013-09/23/content_16988505.htm)
Updated: 2013-09-23 21:48
By Liu Wei (chinadaily.com.cn)

Wong Kar-wai's kungfu drama The Grand Master has become Hong Kong's candidate to compete for the best foreign-language film at the 86th Academy Awards.
The Hong Kong Federation of Motion Film Producers announced today that the film on Ip Man, the late Wing Chun master and mentor of Bruce Lee, will compete for the award, the winner of which will be announced on March 2, 2014.
The Grand Master premiered in China on Jan 8 and grossed $49 million domestically.
Taiwan has selected Soul, a thriller by art house director Chung Mong-hong, as its candidate.
The mainland has not yet decided its submission. However, popular choices include Feng Xiaogang's movie Back to 1942 on a famine that killed 3 million people 71 years ago, Wang Quan'an's Apart Together about the reunion between a Taiwan veteran and his Shanghai wife, and Wang Jing's Feng Shui about a young mother's life struggles.
The only Chinese film to win best foreign-language film at the Oscars was Ang Lee's Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon in 2001. Zhang Yimou's martial arts epic Hero was nominated in 2003 but lost to the German film Nowhere in Africa. We didn't do too much with CTHD (http://ezine.kungfumagazine.com/forum/showthread.php?t=57881), but we ran a cover for Hero (http://ezine.kungfumagazine.com/magazine/article.php?article=531). We probably won't do a cover for this - too much of a gamble on the newsstands.

[GeneChing]

I've been so focused on the potential Oscar bid that I overlooked the Asian film awards.

October 1, 2013, 9:11 PM
Wong Kar-wai’s ‘The Grandmaster’ Leads Golden Horse Nominations (http://blogs.wsj.com/scene/2013/10/01/wong-kar-wais-the-grandmaster-leads-golden-horse-nominations/)
By JENNY HSU

http://s.wsj.net/public/resources/images/OB-ZC584_1001GO_G_20131001085807.jpg
The Weinstein Company/Associated Press
Zhang Ziyi and Tony Leung in ‘The Grandmaster.’

Hong Kong director Wong Kar-wai’s martial-arts drama “The Grandmaster” tops this year’s Golden Horse Awards nominations with 11 nods, including best feature film and best director.

Tony Leung Chiu-wai was nominated for best actor for his portrayal of legendary wing chun kung-fu master Ip Man, while Zhang Ziyi picked up a best actress nomination for her role as Gong Er, a kung-fu expert and the daughter of another powerful martial-arts master. The nominations were announced Tuesday.

“The Grandmaster” takes place in a turbulent and transitional period in China, from the late 1930s to the mid-1950s. Packed with artistic and theatrical fight scenes, the movie explores the intricate relationship between teachers and students against the backdrop of a changing China.

http://s.wsj.net/public/resources/images/OB-ZC589_1001GO_DV_20131001090308.jpg
Regis Duvignau/Reuters
Anthony Chen of Singapore won the Camera d’Or award at the Cannes Film Festival in May.

The Singaporean film “Ilo Ilo,” directed by newcomer Anthony Chen, received six nominations, including best feature, best new director, as well as best supporting actor and actress. Set during the Asian financial crisis in the 1990s, the film focuses on the lives of a Filipina domestic helper and a Singaporean family. It won the Camera d’Or for best first feature film at Cannes this year and is the first Singaporean film to be nominated in this category at the Golden Horse Awards.

Rounding out the nominees for best feature film are Hong Kong director’s Johnnie To’s gangster movie “Drug War,” his first production for a mainland Chinese company; “A Touch of Sin” about the struggles of ordinary people in China from director Jia Zhang-ke, who won best screenplay for the film at Cannes; and the drama “Stray Dogs” from Malaysian-born Taiwan-based director Tsai Ming-liang, who, along with Messrs. To and Jia, is nominated for best director.

Also nominated for best director is Chung Mong-hong of Taiwan for “Soul,” a dark psychological thriller about a quiet sushi chef who becomes a serial killer. “Soul” nabbed four other nominations, including best leading actor for veteran Chinese actor Jimmy Wang Yu.

The Golden Horse Awards, now in its 50th year, are one of Asia’s most-prominent film events and focus specifically on Chinese-language movies. While the majority of the nominated films come from Taiwan, Hong Kong and mainland China, any Chinese-language film is eligible to enter. This year’s ceremony will be held in Taipei on Nov. 23, with Oscar-winning director Ang Lee heading the jury.

[MasterKiller]

We didn't do too much with CTHD (http://ezine.kungfumagazine.com/forum/showthread.php?t=57881), but we ran a cover for Hero (http://ezine.kungfumagazine.com/magazine/article.php?article=531). We probably won't do a cover for this - too much of a gamble on the newsstands.

No way this gets an Oscar. The American cut is too messy and leaves out a lot of important information.

[GeneChing]

It's China's submission for Foreign film, but it's still not quite a final nominee. That's the next step. Every country is submitting films to that category. I think it will get that far at least, mostly because Hollywood wants to give China face with the shifting market. Unfortunately, my foreign film eye seldom gets too far away from Asia, so I can't predict what politics might be driving the other international submissions. Regardless, it's great press for any foreign film to get that far. As for it winning, it depends upon what the other finalists are. We can have that discussion when we get there.

Besides, it'll probably be the original Chinese cut (http://ezine.kungfumagazine.com/forum/showthread.php?p=1244418#post1244418) that is submitted to the Academy.

[Stickgrappler]

watch scorsese remake it in a few years and add in explosions and win an oscar

ugh

[GeneChing]

Anyone here see any of these other than The Grandmaster?


Oscar’s Final Foreign-Language List Includes a Few Surprises (http://variety.com/2013/film/news/oscar-has-some-surprises-in-final-foreign-language-list-1200692363/)
OCTOBER 7, 2013 | 11:10AM PT
Saudi Arabia has first entry, Pakistan repped for first time in 50 years

Tim Gray Awards Editor@timgray_variety

Saudi Arabia and Moldova have their first entry; Pakistan is repped for the first time in 50 years; Montenegro is submitting for the first time as an independent country; and there are a record 76 films in the Academy’s official roster of foreign-language entries.

The Academy of Motion Picture Arts & Sciences released its list Monday, after a review by the exec foreign-language committee. The roster had been expected to be unveiled Friday, as the panel convened that morning to review the submissions. The delay was a clue that some of the films required more investigation into their eligibility.

The Acad allows each country to select its own submission and countries have been announcing their choices in the past weeks (Variety, Sept. 30). Even before the unveiling, some of the choices for the 86th Academy Awards raised questions.

France submitted “Renoir,” causing many to wonder why “Blue Is the Warmest Color” was not chosen. In fact, “Blue” opened in France after the eligibility period (Oct. 1, 2012-Sept. 30, 2013), so it might be Gaul’s choice next year.

India chose “The Good Road” instead of “The Lunchbox,” and Japan chose “The Great Passage” instead of “Like Father, Like Son.” Both choices were met with outrage, because the bypassed films had been seen and admired while the submitted films were generally unseen. The outrage was fueled by some online sites that like to handicap the eventual five nominees even before the countries have submitted.

On this year’s list, many of the submissions have not been widely seen outside their country. But there are also ones that have been acclaimed on the fest circuit, and a few that have received commercial release in the U.S. That roster includes Chile’s “Gloria,” Denmark’s “The Hunt,” Hong Kong’s “The Grandmaster,” Iran’s “The Past,” Italy’s “The Great Beauty,” Netherlands’ “Borgman,” the Palestinian territories’ “Omar,” Poland’s “Walesa” and Saudi Arabia’s “Wadjda.”

This year’s roster includes some interesting twists, including submissions from English-lingo countries Australia, New Zealand and the U.K. This reflects the change in rules after Austria’s 2005 choice, Michael Haneke’s French-language “Cache,” was disqualified. After protests, the Academy of Motion Picture Arts & Sciences the next year revoked the stipulation that a film needs to be in the country’s dominant language.

Hard-and-fast requirements include the film’s opening date and one-week continuous engagement in the country of origin. Another strict rule is that the language be predominantly non-English.

Other rules are more fluid, including the level of artistic contributions from the country. In an era of joint ventures, few films have clear-cut geographic boundaries, but the principal contributors should be from the country.

Foreign-language committee chairman Mark Johnson told Variety, “We take great pride in being flexible; we want to include movies, not reject them. But if they’re ineligible, they’re ineligible.”

One example was Israel’s 2007 “The Band’s Visit.” Though the film had many key Israeli contributors, the language was 65% English. (The story concerned Egyptians and Israelis, whose only common language was English.) So Israel was notified and then submitted “Beaufort,” which went on to earn an Oscar nom.

Nominations will be announced Jan. 16, and awards presented March 2.

Following is the official list of entries.

Afghanistan, “Wajma – An Afghan Love Story,” Barmak Akram, director;

Albania, “Agon,” Robert Budina, director;

Argentina, “The German Doctor,” Lucía Puenzo, director;

Australia, “The Rocket,” Kim Mordaunt, director;

Austria, “The Wall,” Julian Pölsler, director;

Azerbaijan, “Steppe Man,” Shamil Aliyev, director;

Bangladesh, “Television,” Mostofa Sarwar Farooki, director;

Belgium, “The Broken Circle Breakdown,” Felix van Groeningen, director;

Bosnia and Herzegovina, “An Episode in the Life of an Iron Picker,” Danis Tanovic, director;

Brazil, “Neighboring Sounds,” Kleber Mendonça Filho, director;

Bulgaria, “The Color of the Chameleon,” Emil Hristov, director;

Cambodia, “The Missing Picture,” Rithy Panh, director;

Canada, “Gabrielle,” Louise Archambault, director;

Chad, “GriGris,” Mahamat-Saleh Haroun, director;

Chile, “Gloria,” Sebastián Lelio, director;

China, “Back to 1942,” Feng Xiaogang, director;

Colombia, “La Playa DC,” Juan Andrés Arango, director;

Croatia, “Halima’s Path,” Arsen Anton Ostojic, director;

Czech Republic, “The Don Juans,” Jiri Menzel, director;

Denmark, “The Hunt,” Thomas Vinterberg, director;

Dominican Republic, “Quien Manda?” Ronni Castillo, director;

Ecuador, “The Porcelain Horse,” Javier Andrade, director;

Egypt, “Winter of Discontent,” Ibrahim El Batout, director;

Estonia, “Free Range,” Veiko Ounpuu, director;

Finland, “Disciple,” Ulrika Bengts, director;

France, “Renoir,” Gilles Bourdos, director;

Georgia, “In Bloom,” Nana Ekvtimishvili and Simon Gross, directors;

Germany, “Two Lives,” Georg Maas, director;

Greece, “Boy Eating the Bird’s Food,” Ektoras Lygizos, director;

Hong Kong, “The Grandmaster,” Wong Kar-wai, director;

Hungary, “The Notebook,” Janos Szasz, director;

Iceland, “Of Horses and Men,” Benedikt Erlingsson, director;

India, “The Good Road,” Gyan Correa, director;

Indonesia, “Sang Kiai,” Rako Prijanto, director;

Iran, “The Past,” Asghar Farhadi, director;

Israel, “Bethlehem,” Yuval Adler, director;

Italy, “The Great Beauty,” Paolo Sorrentino, director;

Japan, “The Great Passage,” Ishii Yuya, director;

Kazakhstan, “Shal,” Yermek Tursunov, director;

Latvia, “Mother, I Love You,” Janis Nords, director;

Lebanon, “Blind Intersections,” Lara Saba, director;

Lithuania, “Conversations on Serious Topics,” Giedre Beinoriute, director;

Luxembourg, “Blind Spot,” Christophe Wagner, director;

Mexico, “Heli,” Amat Escalante, director;

Moldova, “All God’s Children,” Adrian Popovici, director;

Montenegro, “Ace of Spades – Bad Destiny,” Drasko Djurovic, director;

Morocco, “Horses of God,” Nabil Ayouch, director;

Nepal, “Soongava: Dance of the Orchids,” Subarna Thapa, director;

Netherlands, “Borgman,” Alex van Warmerdam, director;

New Zealand, “White Lies,” Dana Rotberg, director;

Norway, “I Am Yours,” Iram Haq, director;

Pakistan, “Zinda Bhaag,” Meenu Gaur and Farjad Nabi, directors;

Palestine, “Omar,” Hany Abu-Assad, director;

Peru, “The Cleaner,” Adrian Saba, director;

Philippines, “Transit,” Hannah Espia, director;

Poland, “Walesa. Man of Hope,” Andrzej Wajda, director;

Portugal, “Lines of Wellington,” Valeria Sarmiento, director;

Romania, “Child’s Pose,” Calin Peter Netzer, director;

Russia, “Stalingrad,” Fedor Bondarchuk, director;

Saudi Arabia, “Wadjda,” Haifaa Al Mansour, director;

Serbia, “Circles,” Srdan Golubovic, director;

Singapore, “Ilo Ilo,” Anthony Chen, director;

Slovak Republic, “My Dog Killer,” Mira Fornay, director;

Slovenia, “Class Enemy,” Rok Bicek, director;

South Africa, “Four Corners,” Ian Gabriel, director;

South Korea, “Juvenile Offender,” Kang Yi-kwan, director;

Spain, “15 Years Plus a Day,” Gracia Querejeta, director;

Sweden, “Eat Sleep Die,” Gabriela Pichler, director;

Switzerland, “More than Honey,” Markus Imhoof, director;

Taiwan, “Soul,” Chung Mong-Hong, director;

Thailand, “Countdown,” Nattawut Poonpiriya, director;

Turkey, “The Butterfly’s Dream,” Yilmaz Erdogan, director;

Ukraine, “Paradjanov,” Serge Avedikian and Olena Fetisova, directors;

United Kingdom, “Metro Manila,” Sean Ellis, director;

Uruguay, “Anina,” Alfredo Soderguit, director;

Venezuela, “Breach in the Silence,” Luis Alejandro Rodríguez and Andrés Eduardo Rodríguez, directors.

[GeneChing]

Ok, I'm reviewing this here because the only reason I watched it was due to it being China's entry for foreign film for the next Oscars.

There is this genre of Chinese tragedies that starts from a horribly miserable place and then sinks down. I think China likes this sort of flick because it can be so hard, so for a purgative tragic experience, it's gotta be so utterly dismal, so hopeless, that viewers can say 'my life ain't that bad'. This is about the great famine that hit Henan in 1942. Millions of refugees march to Shaanxi in hopes of relief. SPOILER it's eat your pets, sell your daughters and wives to be sex slaves, eat only ground tree bark, miserable. END SPOILER Adrian Brody and Tim Robbins appear to give it that international flair. For the most part, both actors are stiff and underused - caucasians just don't fair well under Chinese direction, including that of Director Feng Xiaogang (Banquet, Aftershock). How Brody travels from the refugee march back to civilization to report is a mystery. There's a huge error in his pronunciation of the name 'Zhang' which he pronounces with a 'zh' sound, but that's an artifact of pinyin which wasn't established in 1942, so it should be a 'j' sound. It doesn't matter much as his character sort of fades out halfway through.

Once you get past the dreary depressing dismal downers, there's some good ultravi. It opens with a good starving peasants fight, replete with farm instrument massacres. There are several CGI Japanese Zeroes strafing and bombing the refugee march that are gruesome spectacles. And there is a sword scene that cuts to the quick (pun intended).

Not an enjoyable flick. In fact, it felt like work.

As for which of the 76 films might actually win, even though I haven't seen it yet, I'm going with Saudi Arabia's Wadjda at this point because I'm hearing the most buzz on it. That could change as the Oscars get closer.

[GeneChing]

STARZ DIGITAL MEDIA in association with ANCHOR BAY ENTERTAINMENT and THE WEINSTEIN COMPANY NOW OFFERING THE GRANDMASTER IN DIGITAL HD STARTING TODAY, NOVEMBER 15

Wong Kar Wai’s latest film, THE GRANDMASTER, starring Tony Leung and Ziyi Zhang, will be available on Cable and Internet Video On-Demand starting November 26, 2013 and offered early in Digital HD starting today, November 15, 2013.

Now on iTunes (http://bit.ly/iTunesGM), Amazon (http://amzn.to/1bB24CW), Vudu (http://bit.ly/VuduGM) and more!

NEW YORK, NY – Starz Digital Media, the digital distribution unit of Starz, in association with Anchor Bay Entertainment and The Weinstein Company announced today that THE GRANDMASTER, from writer and director Wong Kar Wai (HAPPY TOGETHER, IN THE MOOD FOR LOVE and MY BLUEBERRY NIGHTS), will be available for Cable and Internet Video On-Demand starting November 26, 2013, and it will now be offered early in Digital HD starting today, November 15, 2013. Additionally, the street date for the THE GRANDMASTER DVD & Blu-Ray has been moved off of the November 26 date.

Consumers can purchase the Digital HD version on all major digital retailers including iTunes, Amazon, Vudu, Xbox, Target Ticket, and Cinemanow. THE GRANDMASTER will also be available starting November 26, 2013 on Comcast, Time Warner Cable, DirecTV, Verizon, AT&T, Charter, Cox, and other Video On-Demand and Pay-Per-View services.

From acclaimed director/writer Wong Kar Wai comes an epic tale inspired by the life of the warrior hero who taught Bruce Lee. Asian superstar Tony Leung (IN THE MOOD FOR LOVE) portrays legendary Kung Fu master Ip Man, who survived the turmoil of 1930s China to change the world of martial arts forever. Ziyi Zhang (CROUCHING TIGER, HIDDEN DRAGON) and Chang Chen (RED CLIFF) co-star in this visually stunning saga of love, honor and vengeance, featuring breathtaking action choreography by Yuen Wo Ping (THE MATRIX, KILL BILL). Presented by Martin Scorsese, THE GRANDMASTER was recently selected as Hong Kong's submission in the best foreign language film category at the 86th Academy Awards®.

Learn more about THE GRANDMASTER at: www.thegrandmasterfilm.com.

ABOUT THE WEINSTEIN COMPANY
The Weinstein Company (TWC) is a multimedia production and distribution company launched in October 2005 by Bob and Harvey Weinstein, the brothers who founded Miramax Films in 1979. TWC also encompasses Dimension Films, the genre label founded in 1993 by Bob Weinstein, which has released such popular franchises as SCREAM, SPY KIDS and SCARY MOVIE. Together TWC and Dimension Films have released a broad range of mainstream, genre and specialty films that have been commercial and critical successes. TWC releases took home eight 2012 Academy Awards®, the most wins in the studio’s history. The tally included Best Picture for Michel Hazanavicius’s THE ARTIST and Best Documentary Feature for TJ Martin and Dan Lindsay’s UNDEFEATED. THE ARTIST brought TWC its second consecutive Best Picture statuette following the 2011 win for Tom Hooper’s THE KING’S SPEECH.

Since 2005, TWC and Dimension Films have released such films as GRINDHOUSE; 1408; I’M NOT THERE; THE GREAT DEBATERS; VICKY CRISTINA BARCELONA; THE READER; THE ROAD; HALLOWEEN; THE PAT TILLMAN STORY; PIRANHA 3D; INGLOURIOUS BASTERDS; A SINGLE MAN; BLUE VALENTINE; THE COMPANY MEN; MIRAL; SCRE4M; SUBMARINE; DIRTY GIRL; APOLLO 18; OUR IDIOT BROTHER; I DON’T KNOW HOW SHE DOES IT; SARAH’S KEY; SPY KIDS: ALL THE TIME IN THE WORLD IN 4D; MY WEEK WITH MARILYN; THE IRON LADY; W.E.; CORIOLANUS; UNDEFEATED; THE ARTIST; BULLY; THE INTOUCHABLES; LAWLESS; KILLING THEM SOFTLY; THE MASTER; SILVER LININGS PLAYBOOK; DJANGO UNCHAINED; QUARTET; ESCAPE FROM PLANET EARTH; DARK SKIES; THE SAPPHIRES; SCARY MOVIE 5; and KON-TIKI. Currently in release are UNFINISHED SONG and FRUITVALE STATION, LEE DANIELS' THE BUTLER, THE GRANDMASTER and SALINGER. Upcoming releases include MANDELA: LONG WALK TO FREEDOM and AUGUST: OSAGE COUNTY.

TWC is active in television production, led by former Miramax Films President of Production Meryl Poster. TWC is the studio behind such hit television series as the Emmy® nominated and Peabody Award winning reality series PROJECT RUNWAY and its spin-off series PROJECT RUNWAY ALL STARS and PROJECT ACCESSORY; the VH1 reality series MOB WIVES and its spin-off series MOB WIVES CHICAGO and BIG ANG; and the critically acclaimed scripted HBO comedy/crime series THE NO. 1 LADIES' DETECTIVE AGENCY which also received a Peabody Award. The company is in production on the upcoming TLC series WELCOME TO MYRTLE MANOR, the A&E series RODEO QUEENS, and the Lifetime reality competition show SUPERMARKET SUPERSTAR hosted by Stacy Keibler. Among TWC’s other projects in development for television are the martial-arts epic MARCO POLO for Starz, an untitled private eye procedural for FX, and THE NANNY DIARIES developed by ABC with a pilot by Amy Sherman Palladino.

ABOUT ANCHOR BAY ENTERTAINMENT
Anchor Bay Entertainment is a leading home entertainment company. Anchor Bay acquires and distributes feature films, original television programming including STARZ Original series, children's entertainment, anime (Manga Entertainment), fitness (Anchor Bay Fitness), sports, and other filmed entertainment on DVD and Blu-ray™ formats. The company has long term distribution agreements in place for select programming with AMC Networks, RADiUS, and The Weinstein Company. Headquartered in Beverly Hills, CA, Anchor Bay Entertainment has offices in Troy, MI, as well as, Canada, the United Kingdom and Australia. Anchor Bay Entertainment www.anchorbayentertainment.com is a Starz (NASDAQ: STRZA, STRZB) business, www.starz.com.

ABOUT STARZ DIGITAL MEDIA
Starz Digital Media is a leading distributor of digital and on-demand content. Starz Digital Media distributes original programming content (Starz and AMC), feature films (The Weinstein Company, Anchor Bay Films), anime (Manga Entertainment) and other filmed entertainment utilizing various business models including download-to-own/electronic sell-through, video-on-demand, pay-per-view, subscription video-on-demand and ad-supported streaming. Starz Digital Media also programs and supports numerous ad-supported broadband channels and develops games, applications and other related content from many of its properties for distribution worldwide. Starz Digital Media is a Starz (NASDAQ: STRZA, STRZB) business, www.starz.com.

As this is from TWC, I'm sure it's the U.S. cut.

[Blacktiger]

I heard something interesting in regard to this movie's story line the other day....

Apparently the story line was used from Ziranmen Master Du Xin Wu.

Obviously the movie is about Ip Man - but they often do this stuff in movie world.

I dont know either way, but it came from my master, his friend Master Han Yan Wu http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2oCMDO9D1AM trained the lead lady for the flick - cant think of her name off the top of my head.

Anyway who knows - wondered if anyone could throw some thoughts in...

[GeneChing]

Wong Kar Wai On China’s Growth, Kung Fu, Oscar Contenders & Bruce Lee (http://www.deadline.com/2013/12/wong-kar-wai-interview-grandmaster-oscars-kung-fu/)
By DOMINIC PATTEN | Saturday December 14, 2013 @ 10:00am

As one of the maestros of modern cinema, Wong Kar Wai’s return to the martial arts genre this year after two decades was — as you would expect from the director of Chungking Express and In The Mood For Love – a sight to behold. His first new film since his 2007 English-language debut My Blueberry Nights, The Grandmaster takes viewers to 1930s China and inside the life and legacy of Ip Man, the kung fu teacher who, among other things, was Bruce Lee’s trainer. Distributed stateside by The Weinstein Company with a supportive Martin Scorsese Presents in the title, Grandmaster, which is now also available on VOD and Digital HD downloads, has made nearly $6.6 million domestically since it came out in late August. With a worldwide total of $64 million so far, it has become the most "The Grandmaster" New York Screening - Arrivalssuccessful picture of Wong’s 25-year directorial career. This year, working with leading man Tony Leung for a seventh time, the director is also aiming for a Best Foreign Language Film Oscar with the epic as the official submission from Hong Kong. Amazingly, this is only the second time one of Wong’s films has been submitted for the Academy Awards; In The Mood For Love was HK’s entry in 2000 though it did not receive a nomination. Before the Academy’s shortlist for the foreign language category is announced next week, Grandmaster has the Asia-Pacific Film Festival awards tomorrow. Coming off winning the Audience Award and several other prizes at the 50th Golden Horse Awards last month, the film leads the Asia-Pacific awards with nine noms including Best Picture, Best Director and Best Actor and Actress. I had no idea if Wong was wearing his trademark shades when he spoke to me from Shanghai earlier this week but his eyes were clearly on the prize.

GRANDMASTER 2DEADLINE: The Grandmaster is the first martial arts film you’ve made since 1994′s Ashes of Time. A lot has changed in the techniques and technology in filmmaking since then. What was different for you?
WONG: First of all, I remember Ashes In Time was our first co-production with a Chinese Studio. At that point we were one of the first productions that shot in China. The industry then, compared to today, was a lot different. In those days, all the equipment and also the technicians and the industry was not that mature, so we had to ship everything in. But after like almost 20 years we shot again in China with The Grandmaster and it’s different world now. First of all, the industry and support in China has really matured because there are so many productions there. At the same time, there’s been a lot of changes in the market, which I think also has enabled productions like The Grandmaster to happen and to be possible to shoot in China.

DEADLINE: China is becoming Hollywood’s hottest new market and one in which there’s almost daily expansion. How do you think the rise of American films in China is changing cinema in China?
WONG: Well, when you look at the films that are produced in China in the last 10 years, you can see a huge difference. After the Revolution in ’49, all the films were propaganda. They serviced the government and carried the message that the government wants to relay to the people. But I think in the last 10 years because the film market is opening and there’s an expansion of all the cinemas in China, it’s now a lot like Hollywood productions. It seems like the filmmakers and the industry are more market-driven. For me as a filmmaker, I think the only change is that its provided much bigger options. It’s like a larger playground for filmmakers like me to explore some topics which 10 years ago were impossible to imagine.

DEADLINE: With its history, its action and its return to the Chinese language, Grandmaster is a very different film from your last movie, the English-language drama My Blueberry Nights. Was your decision to make this film in some part a reaction to the critical response that My Blueberry Nights received?
WONG: No, that’s not true. I think when you look at My Blueberry Nights it cannot be called a Hollywood film. It is basically a Hong Kong film shot in the United States with all this talent from America. And it was a really good experience for me. With Grandmaster, I wanted to make a commercial and colorful film that really has a message about a world that I’m interested in. But I’m not just going to make a big movie — this is a story about one of the golden periods of the development of martial arts in China. To make a film like The Grandmaster I know I’m not going to make just a standard kung-fu film, it’s not going to be just tricks or like wire works. So I spent seven years on the road interviewing different schools and a lot of real grandmasters from Chinese martial arts. I went to so many practices and so many demonstrations and learned. To be a grandmaster you also need to have sense of the legacies, the generosities and the sharing of your techniques with the future generations. They are supposed to be the keeper and pass on the skill. That’s so important. As a filmmaker, when we were talking with all these grandmasters and watching these demonstrations you realize it’s not going to be like 15-minutes non-stop fighting because normally if you are that good, normally it’s like one punch and one kick — it’s so fast. So it’s very hard to play that on screen so we have to analyze the work. In fact, even though it is a very simple move but when you analyze it, it is about the balance of the body because it is the footwork and the details. I told my DP that I wanted to make this film as classic as possible. Because, for this film, I want to have the audience focus on what’s happening on screen instead of the technique. I’m really happy now, because with this film we can bring awareness to people, especially the younger generation in China, and they can revisit what exactly traditional Chinese martial arts are.

DEADLINE: Part of that is that Grandmaster has been a massive success in China. In fact it’s become the biggest box office hit of your career. Were you surprised with that?
WONG: I’m surprised, but happy because the thing is the people that react to this film is mainly the young audience. They haven’t seen a film like this before.

DEADLINE: Do you feel like a younger audience is discovering your work now because of Grandmaster?
WONG: Well, it’s not about my work it’s about this world. However, I do think for them this is a surprise because they don’t expect me to go that deep and to really tell the story. It’s not about today but it’s about a time which still means a lot today.

DEADLINE: There are 3 different versions of Grandmaster: the Chinese domestic version which is 130 minutes; the 123-minute version that debuted at Berlin earlier this year; and the 108-minute version that was released here in the States in August. What distinguishes each version for you?WKW on Grandmaster set
WONG: I don’t think it’s so different for me but each version is for its audience. I think that though American audiences have a long history of Chinese kung fu films, I wanted a version that speaks to them. So instead of just cutting scenes and making it shorter, I use the captions and voice-overs to tell something about the background story and I can focus more on telling the story about this martial artist.
continued next post

[GeneChing]

DEADLINE: Having said that, how do you think that the film has resonated with North American audiences?
WONG: I’m surprised because the reactions have been extremely good and it also makes me very happy because I think to make a film, especially a film like The Grandmaster, I want it to speak to as many audiences as possible. 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. You can also feel that the life has been running so fast and I thought it was time to revisit some of heritage and to see what exactly is the value, the core value of our culture.

DEADLINE: You’ve have made one English-language film with My Blueberry Nights back in 2007. Could we see you making another English-language film in the future?
WONG: It’s possible, why not? I’ve always wanted to make a film about the Tong Wars, the rioting and the crime factions in San Francisco’s Chinatown in the early part of the last century.

DEADLINE: This weekend could be an important one for The Grandmaster with its nine nominations in the Asia Pacific Film Festival. It has the most of any film this year including for Best Picture and Best Director. So coming off the Golden Horse Awards a few weeks ago, what do you think you’re chances are at the Asia Pacific?
WONG: I think we have a pretty good chance, I think this year I am very happy to see that there are so many great films from Korea, from Japan and from Taiwan, I think it’s good competition and it shows that this year in Asia there is very strong films happening, which is a good sign.

DEADLINE: What are some of the films out there that you think will be strong Oscar contenders this year?
WONG: I have seen Gravity, which I liked, and I also liked the Woody Allen film Blue Jasmine. I heard good things about American Hustle and also the Steve McQueen film 12 Years A Slave, which I haven’t seen yet. I think there’s really strong contenders this year. I think, especially now, with the season of all these awards and nominations, it’s also a very important time for The Grandmaster. Not for the film itself but because of the message the film carries. I really want to have this film be seen by as much people as possible and to be aware of the traditional martial arts in China. I hope this art form and this part of culture will get the attention that they deserve.

DEADLINE: The Grandmaster looks like a film that could so easily become a sequel. Do you have plans for that? Or what are your plans for your next film?
WONG: I don’t know. I’m still stuck in 1936 and I’m really amazed by this journey and I have a very fond memory of this journey, so I don’t have any plans at this point on other project yet. I’m enjoying this moment.

DEADLINE: You know many people would love to see you take the story further to including the story of Bruce Lee.
WONG: Yeah, it’s possible. It’s possible but I need some rest now (laughing). WKW tackling Bruce...:rolleyes:

[GeneChing]

As for which of the 76 films might actually win, even though I haven't seen it yet, I'm going with Saudi Arabia's Wadjda at this point because I'm hearing the most buzz on it. That could change as the Oscars get closer. :o

Looking at the short list, Grandmaster now has a decent chance.


OSCARS: Nine Films On Foreign Language Shortlist; ‘The Past’, ‘Wadjda’ Miss Cut (http://www.deadline.com/2013/12/foreign-language-oscar-academy-award-shortlist/)
By NANCY TARTAGLIONE, International Editor | Friday, 20 December 2013 17:55

oscarLast weekend, I profiled 15 films that had a lot of heat ahead of the Foreign Language Oscar shortlist unveiling today. Of those 15 (plus a handful of wildcards), seven have ended up among the Academy’s nine selections that will move on to the second round of voting. As with many of the Oscar categories this year, this was a field jam-packed with strong contenders and the ultimate shortlist reflects that. Among the films that were roundly expected to make the cut, Paolo Sorrentino’s The Great Beauty out of Italy, and Thomas Vinterberg’s The Hunt from Denmark, are both in. But in one of the biggest surprises, 2011 Foreign Language Oscar winner Asghar Farhadi did not make the cut with this year’s The Past. That film, as with the other two above, has a Golden Globe nomination, and it won the Best Actress prize for Bérénice Bejo this year in Cannes. Meanwhile, Saudi Arabia did not benefit from beginner’s luck. The first entry from the kingdom, the roundly lauded Wadjda, is not on the list. Both of those films are with Sony Pictures Classics which had last year’s winner, Amour. Another shocking omission is Gloria, Sebastien Lelio’s Chilean feature about a 58-year-old divorcée looking for love. That had received tons of advance buzz. Of the other pics chosen to advance by the Academy, Wong Kar Wai’s The Grandmaster probably has the highest profile, and is the most profitable of the bunch, and Belgium’s Broken Circle Breakdown was a prize winner in Berlin, Tribeca and at the recent European Film Awards.

The Academy’s shortlist was whittled down from a record 76 entries. The next heat will see an uber-committee of 30 high-profile members choose the ultimate five nominees after viewing the finalists over the weekend of January 10-12. They will be unveiled with the rest of the nominees on January 16th. Here are the titles that advanced to the next stage:

Belgium, The Broken Circle Breakdown, Felix van Groeningen
Bosnia and Herzegovina, An Episode in the Life of an Iron Picker, Danis Tanovic
Cambodia, The Missing Picture, Rithy Panh
Denmark, The Hunt, Thomas Vinterberg
Germany, Two Lives, Georg Maas
Hong Kong, The Grandmaster, Wong Kar-wai
Hungary, The Notebook, Janos Szasz
Italy, The Great Beauty, Paolo Sorrentino
Palestine, Omar, Hany Abu-Assad

[GeneChing]

THE GRANDMASTER, DRUG WAR Top HK Film Critics Awards (http://twitchfilm.com/2014/01/the-grandmaster-drug-war-top-hk-film-critics-awards.html#ixzz2qIcZOXPu)
James Marsh, Asian Editor

http://twitchfilm.com/assets_c/2014/01/Grandmaster%20ZZY-thumb-630xauto-45117.jpg
Wong Kar Wai's The Grandmaster has been named Best Film by the Hong Kong Film Critics Society, while its female star Zhang Ziyi was voted Best Actress. Johnnie To's Drug War won the Best Director and Best Screenplay awards, and Nick Cheung was named Best Actor for Dante Lam's Unbeatable.

Here's the full list of winners:

Best Film - The Grandmaster (dir. Wong Kar Wai)

Best Director - Johnnie To - Drug War

Best Actor - Nick Cheung - Unbeatable

Best Actress - Zhang Ziyi - The Grandmaster

Best Screenplay - Wai Ka Fai , Yau Nai Hoi , Chen Weibin , Yu Xi - Drug War

In addition to Wong Kar Wai's The Grandmaster, the HKFCS presented a short list of 6 Hong Kong films from the 49 released last year, to which they give their recommendation. They are:

Drug War (dir. Johnnie To)

Unbeatable (dir. Dante Lam)

Ip Man - The Final Fight (dir. Herman Yau)

The Way We Dance (dir. Adam Wong)

Blind Detective (dir. Johnnie To)

Rigor Mortis (dir. Juno Mak)



NYT has been running a full-page ad saying this is back for a limited release. It's the Oscar push.

[SimonM]

NYT has been running a full-page ad saying this is back for a limited release. It's the Oscar push.

PLEASE don't let the Grandmaster win an Oscar. If that happens I'll have to spend the next decade explaining why I disliked the only Oscar winning kung fu film since CTHD.

[GeneChing]

Right now, the martial arts genre is really ebbing. We've had very few theatrical releases here in the U.S. that could be defined as martial arts flicks and the rom-coms have taken over China. Unless there's some box-office draw or some film awards, we will see a decline in production of A-grade martial arts movies (there will always be B-grades...always).

Meanwhile, I thought this was amusing. I've always had issues with Z because her movie roles have elevated her to one of the most recognizable martial arts stars. However, beyond her movie roles, she didn't train in the martial arts. That kind of martial nibbling has a cost.

Zhang Ziyi quits martial arts movies (http://www.express.co.uk/news/showbiz/453653/Zhang-Ziyi-quits-martial-arts-movies)
Chinese actress ZHANG ZIYI is turning her back on martial arts movies as she is still suffering from injuries she received on the set of CROUCHING TIGER, HIDDEN DRAGON.
Published: Mon, January 13, 2014

http://cdn.images.express.co.uk/img/dynamic/79/590x/453653_1.jpg

Ziyi shot to international fame with her role in the hit 2000 movie but she was left battered and bruised after shooting its hard-hitting combat scenes.

She has just wrapped filming on new martial arts movie The Grandmaster, but the lengthy three-year shoot has convinced Ziyi that her days as a deadly onscreen fighter are over.

She tells Hello!, "I don't believe there's another role that can surpass this. And I've had so many injuries from a long time ago during Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon when I injured my neck. Those old injuries really bother me and after three years of this one, my body cannot take it any more. So I think this is a pretty good finale."

[MightyB]

Right now, the martial arts genre is really ebbing. We've had very few theatrical releases here in the U.S. that could be defined as martial arts flicks and the rom-coms have taken over China. Unless there's some box-office draw or some film awards, we will see a decline in production of A-grade martial arts movies (there will always be B-grades...always).


I think it's difficult to create a modern compelling story around MA. Like you, I'd like to see more time invested in quality MA movies, but I'm partially with Simon on this one - I mean, it's a good, well-produced movie, but I didn't find that it was especially exceptional in any way.

[SimonM]

Right now, the martial arts genre is really ebbing. We've had very few theatrical releases here in the U.S. that could be defined as martial arts flicks and the rom-coms have taken over China. Unless there's some box-office draw or some film awards, we will see a decline in production of A-grade martial arts movies (there will always be B-grades...always).

Meanwhile, I thought this was amusing. I've always had issues with Z because her movie roles have elevated her to one of the most recognizable martial arts stars. However, beyond her movie roles, she didn't train in the martial arts. That kind of martial nibbling has a cost.

Fair enough. :)

[sanjuro_ronin]

Is this out on blu-ray yet?

[Jimbo]

Right now, the martial arts genre is really ebbing. We've had very few theatrical releases here in the U.S. that could be defined as martial arts flicks and the rom-coms have taken over China. Unless there's some box-office draw or some film awards, we will see a decline in production of A-grade martial arts movies (there will always be B-grades...always).

IMO, the MA genre never really recovered from the collapse of the HK film industry. Sure, there have been starts here and there...post-CTHD wuxia films, the Ip Man/WC movies...but it'll never have a prominence (among Chinese films) like it had.

Romantic movies (serious and comedy, Chinese or foreign) have almost always been more popular among many Chinese audiences, at least to my observation. And whenever the MA genre rises and falls again, romantic comedy films always seem to take over. Thankfully, the Chinese romantic movies aren't more prominent than the kung fu movies internationally.

[GeneChing]

I think it's difficult to create a modern compelling story around MA.
I disagree. Both Life of Pi and All is Lost (probably) got Oscar nods and they were both about someone stuck on a boat. I think the problem is that martial arts films are too stuck in their own stereotypes. There's the basic revenge flick, the fighting-against-your-will-in-an-underground-tournament flick, the training with a kooky master flick, the rogue agent flick, and maybe a few other, but not much thinking outside the box.


Is this out on blu-ray yet?
I believe so.


IMO, the MA genre never really recovered from the collapse of the HK film industry. Well sure. That's like saying disco never really recovered from the break up of the Bee Gees. I mean, it was different times. Those classic Shaw Brothers flicks are so dear to my heart, but they are locked in time and don't hold up to the scrutiny of today's audiences, at least not on the big screen, not like before. But there is a trend towards successful VOD now with martial arts flicks. The market has changed with the window. I think that's what Well Go USA president Doris Pfardrescher was getting at in my recent interview with her (http://www.kungfumagazine.com/ezine/article.php?article=1143).


Thankfully, the Chinese romantic movies aren't more prominent than the kung fu movies internationally. Doris touched on this too. It's still all about kung fu flicks when it comes to China and the international market. Which is in part why The Grandmasters is an important film. The arty crowd loved it. For fans of the genre like us, we're pretty happy as long as there are some decent fights. But for the general public, there have to be other factors to make it appealing. Whenever we get a potential cross-over, I salute that.

[Jimbo]

Even if I hadn't liked it (which I did), I would still be pulling for it to win an Oscar. I have some doubts that it will, but if it at least gets a nomination, that could give the genre a much-needed boost.

[GeneChing]

But it didn't make Foreign film.


Nominees (http://oscar.go.com/nominees)

Cinematography

The Grandmaster
Philippe Le Sourd

Gravity
Emmanuel Lubezki

Inside Llewyn Davis
Bruno Delbonnel

Nebraska
Phedon Papamichael

Prisoners
Roger A. Deakins


Costume Design

American Hustle
Michael Wilkinson

The Grandmaster
William Chang Suk Ping

The Great Gatsby
Catherine Martin

The Invisible Woman
Michael O'Connor

12 Years a Slave
Patricia Norris

[SimonM]

But it didn't make Foreign film.

I'm ok with the cinematography one. That's the one place that the Grandmaster actually delivered. I found it a painfully disjointed hot mess of a movie plot-wise. And the character development seemed forced; but it sure looked good doing it.

[SPJ]

Wing Chun vs Ba Gua.

Great.

Zhang is getting old and so are we.

Leung is way older then Zhang.

Jackie Chan and Jet Li are old.

Where is the new face or new blood for Kung Fu flicks ?

That is.

:(

[GeneChing]

I don't think there were even any Chinese in the house. Were there? :rolleyes:

As the theme was 'heroes' there were some nods to Bruce Lee, Jackie Chan and Po. Also, in the obituary section, Sir Run Run Shaw (http://www.kungfumagazine.com/forum/showthread.php?67136-Rest-in-peace-Run-Run-Shaw!), Tom Laughlin (http://www.kungfumagazine.com/forum/showthread.php?67047-RIP-Tom-Laughlin-Billy-Jack) and Jim Kelly (http://www.kungfumagazine.com/forum/showthread.php?66198-Jim-Kelly-passes-away) were honored.

[MightyB]

I disagree. Both Life of Pi and All is Lost (probably) got Oscar nods and they were both about someone stuck on a boat. I think the problem is that martial arts films are too stuck in their own stereotypes. There's the basic revenge flick, the fighting-against-your-will-in-an-underground-tournament flick, the training with a kooky master flick, the rogue agent flick, and maybe a few other, but not much thinking outside the box.


I can only think of a few Kung Fu flicks that tried really hard to break that mold. "Pushing Hands", "Iron and Silk"


and "Kung Fu Hustle".

[GeneChing]

Perhaps that's a topic for a stand-alone thread, MightyB - films that broke the mold.

Meanwhile, back on topic here:


Grandmaster tops HK Directors' Guild Awards (http://www.filmbiz.asia/news/grandmaster-tops-hk-directors-guild-awards)
By Kevin Ma
Fri, 07 March 2014, 09:00 AM (HKT)

http://www.filmbiz.asia/media/BAhbB1sHOgZmSSI5MjAxNC8wMy8wNi8xMy80My8wMi80Ni96aG FuZ196aXlpX2FuZF90b255X2xldW5nLmpwZwY6BkVUWwg6BnA6 CnRodW1iSSINNTAweDEwMDAGOwZU?suffix=.jpg&sha=3ba3e7bb

The Grandmaster 一代宗師 was the star of this year's annual Hong Kong Film Directors' Guild 香港電影導演會 dinner on Wednesday night, winning four prizes.

The martial arts epic won Best Director (WONG Kar-wai 王家衛), Best Actress (ZHANG Ziyi 章子怡), Best Actor (Tony LEUNG Chiu-wai 梁朝偉) and Best Picture.

Youth comedy The Way We Dance 狂舞派 was also a big winner, picking up Best New Actor (BabyJohn CHOI 蔡瀚億) and Best New Director (Adam WONG 黃修平). Derek KWOK 郭子健 picked up a special Executive Committee Prize for his work on As the Light Goes Out 救火英雄.

Votes from the Hong Kong Film Directors' Guild hold a 25% weight in three categories of the Hong Kong Film Awards 香港電影金 — Best Director, Best New Director and Best Visual Effects – and 20% in other categories (except for Best Film and Best Film from Mainland and Taiwan, in which each vote is weighted equally).

As a result, The Grandmaster's win on Wednesday can be seen an early indicator for this year's Hong Kong Film Awards.

[PalmStriker]

Just watched "The GrandMaster" for the first time, missed seeing it on the big screen. 5 Stars !!!!! :) A work of Art !

[GeneChing]

That's a record setter according to www.filmbiz.asia (http://www.filmbiz.asia/news/grandmaster-sets-record-at-hk-film-awards).

Not only did the martial arts epic win the highest number of awards this year, it also set a new record for the most prizes won by a single film. Comrades, Almost a Love Story 甜蜜蜜 (1996) and Cold War 寒戰 (2012) had held the record with nine wins.


2:29 pm HKT
Apr 14, 2014
Arts & Culture
Wong Kar-wai’s Big Night (http://blogs.wsj.com/scene/2014/04/14/wong-kar-wais-big-night/)
By Dean Napolitano

http://s.wsj.net/public/resources/images/BN-CJ002_HKFA_p_G_20140413235253.jpg
Zhang Ziyi and Tony Leung star in ‘The Grandmaster.’ Click to see more photos.
Associated Press

Wong Kar-wai’s martial-arts biography “The Grandmaster” made a near-sweep of the Hong Kong Film Awards on Sunday night, scooping up 12 trophies in the 14 categories it was nominated for, including best film and best director. Zhang Ziyi took home the prize for best actress and Zhang Jin won best supporting actor.

“The Grandmaster” tells the story of Ip Man, who taught the form of kung fu known as wing chun and counted Bruce Lee among his students. He was born in Foshan, China, in 1893 and died in Hong Kong in 1972.

William Chang won in three categories: film editing, art direction and costume and make-up design, while Philippe Le Sourd won for his cinematography. Messrs. Chang and Le Sourd had been nominated for Academy Awards for their work, although they didn’t win at last month’s Oscar ceremony.

Here’s the full list of winners:

Best Film

“The Grandmaster” — WINNER
“Journey to the West: Conquering the Demons”
“The Way We Dance”
“The White Storm”
“Unbeatable”

Best Director

Wong Kar-wai, “The Grandmaster” – WINNER
Johnnie To, “Drug War”
Benny Chan, “The White Storm”
Derek Kwok, “As the Light Goes Out”
Dante Lam, “Unbeatable”

Best Screenplay

Zou Jingzhi, Xu Haofeng, Wong Kar-wai, “The Grandmaster” – WINNER
Zhou Zhiyong, Zhang Ji, Aubrey Lam, “American Dreams in China”
Xue Xiaolu, “Finding Mr. Right”
Wai Ka-fai, Yau Nai-hoi, Ryker Chan, Yu Xi, “Blind Detective”
Jack Ng, Fung Chi-fung, Dante Lam, “Unbeatable”

Best Actor

Tony Leung Chiu-wai, “The Grandmaster”
Louis Koo, “The White Storm”
Lau Ching-wan, “The White Storm”
Anthony Wong, “Ip Man: The Final Fight”
Nick Cheung, “Unbeatable” – WINNER

Best Actress

Zhang Ziyi, “The Grandmaster” – WINNER
Tang Wei, “Finding Mr. Right”
Cherry Ngan, “The Way We Dance”
Sammi Cheng, “Blind Detective”
Nina Paw Hee-ching, “Rigor Mortis”

Best Supporting Actor

Zhang Jin, “The Grandmaster” – WINNER
Tong Dawei, “American Dreams in China”
Huang Bo, “Journey to the West: Conquering the Demons”
Eddie Peng, “Unbeatable”
Antony “Friend” Chan, “Rigor Mortis”

Best Supporting Actress

Du Juan, “American Dreams in China”
Carina Lau, “Young Detective Dee: Rise of the Sea Dragon”
Law Lan, “The White Storm”
Crystal Lee, “Unbeatable”
Wai Ying-hung, “Rigor Mortis” – WINNER

Best New Performer

Du Juan, “American Dreams in China”
Fish Liew, “Doomsday Party”
Lin Gengxin, “Young Detective Dee: Rise of the Sea Dragon”
Babyjohn Choi, “The Way We Dance” – WINNER
Angel Chiang, “A Secret Between Us”

Best Cinematography

Philippe Le Sourd, “The Grandmaster” – WINNER
Anthony Pun, “The White Storm”
Jason Kwan, “As the Light Goes Out”
Kenny Tse, “Unbeatable”
Ng Kai-ming, “Rigor Mortis”

Best Film Editing

William Chang, Benjamin Courtines, Poon Hung-yiu, “The Grandmaster” – WINNER
Kwong Chi-leung, Ron Chan, “Firestorm”
Yau Chi-wai, “The White Storm”
Wong Hoi, “As the Light Goes Out”
Azrael Chung, “Unbeatable”

Best Art Direction

William Chang, Alfred Yau Wai-ming, “The Grandmaster” – WINNER
Eric Lam, “Journey to the West: Conquering the Demons”
Ken Mak, “Young Detective Dee: Rise of the Sea Dragon”
Eric Lam, “As the Light Goes Out”
Irving Cheung, “Rigor Mortis”

Best Costume & Make-Up Design

William Chang, “The Grandmaster” – WINNER
Dora Ng, “American Dreams in China”
Lee Pik-kwan, Bruce Yu, “Journey to the West: Conquering the Demons”
Lee Pik-kwan, Bruce Yu, “Young Detective Dee: Rise of the Sea Dragon”
Miggy Cheng, Phoebe Wong, Kittichon Kunratchol, “Rigor Mortis”

Best Action Choreography

Yuen Wo-ping, “The Grandmaster” – WINNER
Yuen Bun, “Young Detective Dee: Rise of the Sea Dragon”
Chin Ka-lok, “Firestorm”
Donnie Yen, “Special ID”
Ling Chi-wah, “Unbeatable”

Best Original Film Score

Shigeru Umebayashi, Nathaniel Mechaly, “The Grandmaster” – WINNER
Kenji Kawai, “Young Detective Dee: Rise of the Sea Dragon”
Day Tai, Afuc Chan, “The Way We Dance”
Teddy Robin, Tomy Wai, “As the Light Goes Out”
Henry Lai, “Unbeatable”

Best Original Film Song

“新秩序”: “Young and Dangerous: Reloaded” (Composer, lyric, sung by: Paul Wong)
“狂舞吧”: “The Way We Dance” (Composer: Day Tai; Lyric: Saville Chan; Sung by: DoughBoy, Shimica Wong) – WINNER
“Love is Blind”: “Blind Detective (Composer: Hal Foxton Beckett, Mark Baril; Lyric: Lin Xi; Sung by: Andy Lau, Sammi Cheng)
“心照一生”: “The White Storm” (Composer: RubberBand; Lyric: RubberBand, Tim Lui; Sung by: RubberBand)
“Ai Zui Da”: “As the Light Goes Out” (Composer: Nicholas Tse; Lyric: Nicholas Tse, Qiao Xing, Kit@24 Herbs, Phat@24 Herbs; Sung by: Nicholas Tse, 24 Herbs)

Best Sound Design

Robert Mackenzie, Traithep Wongpaiboon, “The Grandmaster” – WINNER
Kinson Tsang, “Young Detective Dee: Rise of the Sea Dragon”
Phyllis Cheng, “As the Light Goes Out”
Phyllis Cheng, “Unbeatable”
Benny Chu, Steve Miller, “Rigor Mortis”

Best Visual Effects

Pierre Buffin, “The Grandmaster”
Wook Kim, “Young Detective Dee: Rise of the Sea Dragon”
Yee Kwok-leung, Lai Man-chun, Ho Kwan-yeung, Garrett K. Lam, “Firestorm”
Henri Wong, Hugo Kwan, Walter Wong, “As the Light Goes Out”
Enoch Chan, “Rigor Mortis” – WINNER

Best New Director

Adam Wong, “The Way We Dance” – WINNER
Alan Yuen, “Firestorm”
Juno Mak, “Rigor Mortis”

Best Film From Mainland and Taiwan

“Rock Me to the Moon” (Taiwan)
“Lost in Thailand” (Mainland)
“The Last Supper” (Mainland)
“Touch of the Light” (Taiwan)
“So Young” (Mainland) – WINNER

[Stickgrappler]

It was Cung's 42nd bday Sunday. Made some GIFs of him from The Grandmaster.


http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-_5zgqOQayN8/U3wufFKSekI/AAAAAAAAGsQ/j9TPrDl5XWU/s1600/TheGrandmaster-CungLe-03-400-sg.gif
http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-opUSuiyLn1s/U3wvVxaqXsI/AAAAAAAAGso/EB8Z79YG4NY/s1600/TheGrandmaster-CungLe-04-400-sg.gif


Enjoy 4 more GIFs:

http://www.stickgrappler.net/2014/05/cung-le-in-grandmaster-gif-set-1.html

--------------------

Here’s my 2nd set of GIFs of Cung Le in The Grandmaster

http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-nByPUQJmyb0/U3w1fzMoh7I/AAAAAAAAGs4/fpOtDJy1nxo/s1600/TheGrandmaster-CungLe-07-400-sg.gif
http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-kUNQzCT6n70/U3w2hG0u4SI/AAAAAAAAGtQ/8U4Vngyfhas/s1600/TheGrandmaster-CungLe-08-400-sg.gif

Enjoy 4 more GIFs:

http://www.stickgrappler.net/2014/05/the-grandmaster-gif-set-2-cung-le.html

[Stickgrappler]

My last set of GIFs of Cung Le’s appearance in The Grandmaster – this set is a bonus set, isolating for one action, extracted specific frames, etc. unlike the previous 2 sets where I captured the scene


http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-ldlaLBkWIXA/U3yHRX_AMII/AAAAAAAAGuo/XjYnMqXNw1c/s1600/TheGrandmaster-TonyLeung-17-FrontKick-400-sg.gif
http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-SuQxwg7TLHk/U3yHa0O__aI/AAAAAAAAGu4/-nryh2H2Q84/s1600/TheGrandmaster-TonyLeung-19-WalkAway-400-sg.gif


Enjoy 5 more GIFs here:

http://www.stickgrappler.net/2014/05/bonus-gif-set-1-grandmaster-cung-le.html

[GeneChing]

hmpf. Do I want to see this again just for yet another version? I've already seen it several times. I do luv 3D....:o


Wong Kar Wai’s ‘Grandmaster’ to Release in 3D in October (EXCLUSIVE) (http://variety.com/2014/film/news/wong-kar-wais-grandmaster-to-release-in-3d-in-october-exclusive-1201293849/)
August 29, 2014 | 07:30AM PT
Patrick Frater
Asia Bureau Chief

HONG KONG — Iconic Hong Kong-based director Wong Kar Wai has set mid-October as the release date for a 3D version of “The Grandmaster,” his Oscar-nominated biopic of Ip Man, the martial arts maestro who mentored Bruce Lee.

The 3D version will be given a wide release by its Chinese distributor Bona Film Group, some 21 months after the original film went out in conventional 2D and Imax formats. Starring Zhang Ziyi and Tony Leung Chiu-wai, the film earned Academy Awards nominations for costume and cinematography.

Conversion is being handled by Vancouver, Canada-based Gener8 Media, which previously handled stereoscopic work on “300: Rise of an Empire,” “Godzilla,” and “The Amazing Spider-Man.”

Wong, known for his painstaking working methods, is reported to be “100% present and hands on.”

“We had originally planned to film ‘The Grandmaster’ in 3D not only for the cinematic sensation, but also for the subtlety of the expression of this beautiful story,” Wong said. “We now have the opportunity to show the film as it was always intended – searching for a brand new aesthetic or cinematic language in the 3D format.”

“This is likely to be a special edition, probably resembling the so called U.S.-cut, but with added unseen footage,” said Jeffrey Chan COO of Bona. “Now that many people have seen the film everyone can tell that that there is far more material, and a broken narrative.”

The film has already been presented in at least three versions: the first, which was used for mainland Chinese release in January 2013; a second one, which opened the Berlin festival the following month; and a shorter, more linear cut for U.S. audiences, which Wong and distributor Harvey Weinstein worked on together.

Stereoscopic conversion was contemplated before its release, so too was releasing the film in two parts, but plans were abandoned due to time constraints.

“We thought the original release was a bit of a rush, we were under pressure from one of the investors to release at a certain time, and we feel that the marketing was not optimal,” Chan said. “Since then, of course, the film has proved its quality and earned huge acclaim, leading us to believe that there is unfulfilled demand.”

Whatever the releasing shortcomings, “The Grandmaster” went on to become Wong’s biggest box office film in his home markets of China and Hong Kong. In mainland China it grossed 312 million yuan ($50.6 million) and in Hong Kong $2.75 million. It then cleaned up in numerous awards shows, gathering six Golden Horse Awards, seven Asian Film Awards and 12 Hong Kong Film Awards.

Current plans are only for a release in mainland China, but Bona said it will respond if there is interest from other territories.

As is by now typical of Wong films, production over-ran – Leung also broke both arms mid-shoot – and went over budget, reportedly ending up at $38 million. That allowed Megan Ellison’s Annapurna Pictures to step in as a financier.

International rights to the film were handled in many territories by France’s Wild Bunch, in key Asian territories by Fortissimo Films, and in smaller Asian markets by Mei Ah Entertainment. The Weinstein Co. acquired U.S. and English-speaking Canada rights from Annapurna, and U.K., Australia and New Zealand licenses from Wild Bunch.

[GeneChing]

Miss Granny remake tops China box office
http://www.filmbiz.asia/media/BAhbB1sHOgZmSSIzMjAxNS8wMS8xMy8wMS81My80Mi81ODgvbW lzc19ncmFubnlfcG9zdGVyLmpwZwY6BkVUWwg6BnA6CnRodW1i SSINNTAweDEwMDAGOwZU?suffix=.jpg&sha=41979a8b

By Kevin Ma

Tue, 13 January 2015, 18:00 PM (HKT)
Box Office News

CJ E&M Corp 씨제이이앤엠 주식회사's Chinese-language remake of Miss Granny 수상한 그녀 opened number one at the China box office.

Accounting for approximately 28.5% of all screenings over the weekend, 20, Once Again! 重返２０歲 (the remake's international title) earned RMB123 million (US$19.9 million) from approximately 3.8 million admissions over four days.

The fantasy comedy, starring YANG Zishan 楊子姍 as an old woman who is magically transformed into her 20-year-old self, was the best non-holiday opening weekend for director Leste CHEN 陳正道. Last year, his psychological thriller The Great Hypnotist 催眠大師 earned RMB138 million (US$22.3 million) on its first five days during the Golden Week holiday. It made a total of RMB274 million (US$44.1 million).

Unlike most foreign remakes, the Chinese version of Miss Granny was initiated and co-produced by South Korea's CJ E&M, who also produced the original film. It had originally planned to produce and release the two films simultaneously.

Defending allegations of cashing in on the original film's success, Chen wrote on his Weibo microblog earlier this month that both versions of the film were initiated together and emphasised that his version was aimed at older audiences who have not been exposed to the South Korean version.

Accounting for approximately 9.65% of all screenings, the 3-D re-release of WONG Kar-wai 王家衛's The Grandmaster 一代宗師 (2013) opened in fourth place, earning RMB30.1 million (US$4.86 million) from approximately 638,000 admissions.

Edited by Wong himself, the new 111-minute cut of the martial arts epic reportedly has a structure similar to the North America version, placing more emphasis on Tony LEUNG Chiu-wai 梁朝偉's Ip Man character than the original China/Hong Kong cut.

The film earned RMB288 million (US$46.4 million) during its initial theatrical run.

In its first full weekend in cinemas, Night at the Museum 3 was second-placed. With approximately 23.6% of all screenings, the 2-D fantasy comedy earned RMB94.4 million (US$15.2 million) from approximately 2.86 million admissions. After 8 days in cinemas, it has made RMB192 million (US$30.9 million).

TSUI Hark 徐克's The Taking of Tiger Mountain 3D 智取威虎山 dropped the third place in its third weekend, earning RMB53 million (US$8.54 million) between Friday and Sunday. After 20 days, the action epic has earned RMB791 million (US$128 million). It has overtaken The Continent 後會無期 as the highest grossing film in Bona Film Group Co Ltd 博納影業集團有限公司's history.

Animated film One Hundred Thousand Bad Jokes 十萬個冷笑話 dropped to fifth place, earning RMB10.8 million (US$1.74 million) for a total of RMB107 million (US$17.3 million) after 12 days. Co-produced by Wanda Media Co Ltd 萬達影視傳媒有限公司, it is the only locally produced animated film outside the successful Pleasant Goat and Big Big Wolf franchise to earn over RMB100 million (US$16.1 million).

A new 3-D version of Stephen CHOW 周星馳's Kung Fu Hustle 功夫 (2004), Clara LAW 羅卓瑤's Shanghai Noir 暴走神探 and fantasy epic Seventh Son are set to open this week.


In Taiwan, Taken 3 captured the top of the box office. From 23 Taipei locations, the action sequel earned NT$23.689662 million (US$742,000) over three days.

Taken 2 (2012) opened with NT$25.4 million (US$795,000) in Taipei, earning a total of NT$73.8 million (US$2.31 million) in the capital during its theatrical run.

Taken 3 was the only new release to open in the top ten. Opening in seven Taipei locations, the 3-D version of The Grandmaster opened twelfth-placed, earning NT$356,000 (US $11,100) over three days. The original version of the film earned NT$18.2 million (US$572,000) in Taipei during its initial theatrical run.

From just three Taipei locations, INUDO Isshin 犬童一心's Miracle: Devil Claus' Love and Magic ＭＩＲＡＣＬＥ　デビクロくんの恋と魔法 earned NT$248,000 (US$7,780) over three days.

Disney's Big Hero 6 dropped to second place, earning NT$7.7 million (US$241,000) in Taipei between Friday and Sunday. The animated sci-fi adventure has earned NT$36.4 million (US$1.14 million) after two weekends.

Stand By Me Doraemon ＳＴＡＮＤ ＢＹ ＭＥ ドラえもん has earned NT$9.89 million (US$310,000) in Taipei after three weekends. Endless Nights In Aurora 極光之愛 has earned NT$7.73 million (US$242,000) in the capital after four weekends.

Taken 3 took the top spot at the Hong Kong box office for the second consecutive weekend.

Between Thursday and Sunday, the action sequel earned HK$3.56 million (US$460,000) from 38 locations. After two weekends, it has made HK$15 million (US$1.93 million), becoming the highest grossing film of the franchise.

PANG Ho-cheung 彭浩翔's Women Who Flirt 撒嬌女人最好命 climbed to second place in its second weekend. From 37 locations, the romantic comedy earned HK$2.64 million (US$340,000), representing a week-on-week increase of 8.48%. Distributed locally by Bravos Pictures Ltd 巴福斯影業, the film has earned HK$7.05 million (US$909,000).

The weekend's top new film was [REC] 4: Apocalypse [REC] 4: Apocalipsis. From 28 locations, the Spanish horror sequel made HK$1.44 million (US$186,000) over four days plus early previews.

In May 2012, [REC]³ Génesis (2012) opened with HK$1.23 million (US$159,000) from 20 screens. It earned HK$2.45 million (US$316,000) during its theatrical run.

Tim BURTON's Big Eyes opened fifth-placed, earning HK$1.12 million (US$144,000) from 24 screens over four days.

From just nine screens, Richard LINKLATER's Boyhood opened with HK$460,000 (US$59,300) over four days. The drama's Best Picture win at the Golden Globes will likely help improve its box office performance in its second weekend.

Thai horror film O.T. Ghost Overtime ＯＴ　 ผี ＯＶＥＲＴＩＭＥ opened in 14 locations and earned HK$149,000 (US$19,200) over four days. Spanish drama 10,000km earned HK$77,100 (US$9,940) from six locations in four days.
A 3D Kung Fu Hustle (http://www.kungfumagazine.com/forum/showthread.php?28036-KUNG-FU-HUSTLE-Stephen-Chow-s-latest-Kung-Fu-Flick&p=1278480#post1278480) too. Post-production 3D seems to work better in China than here. :rolleyes:

[GeneChing]

https://img.evbuc.com/https%3A%2F%2Fcdn.evbuc.com%2Fimages%2F411063099%2 F30946534905%2F1%2Foriginal.20221216-220126
Jan 08
Radiating Bruce Lee film screening: THE GRANDMASTER [2013]

Celebrate the 10th anniversary of this epic life story of the Wing Chun grandmaster IP MAN, whose most famous student was BRUCE LEE.

By Chinese Historical Society of America

When and where
Date and time
Sun, Jan 8, 2023, 2:00 PM PST

Location
The Great Star Theater 636 Jackson Street San Francisco, CA 94133

About this event
3 hours


This 2013 martial arts drama film is based on the life story of the Wing Chun grandmaster IP MAN, whose most famous student was BRUCE LEE. It is directed by Hong Kong legend Wong Kar-wai and stars Tony Chiu-Wai Leung and Zhang Ziyi.
Kick off the new year with a FREE community event hosted by the Chinese Historical Society of America as we celebrate the 10th anniversary of the epic film that features Wong's trademark romanticism packed with action and drama. Set in the turbulent 1930s-’50s, the film contemplates the role of martial arts amidst war. Joining the stellar cast is a who’s who of Hong Kong film greats, including action choreographer Yuen Woo-ping and longtime Wong Kar-wai collaborator William Chang taking on editor, production designer and co-costume designer duties.
Register for this FREE screening today. (https://www.eventbrite.com/e/radiating-bruce-lee-film-screening-the-grandmaster-2013-tickets-490770145717)

You must register to attend - use the link I provided above.

The-Grandmaster (https://www.kungfumagazine.com/forum/showthread.php?53227-The-Grandmaster)
We-Are-Bruce-Lee-at-CHSA (https://www.kungfumagazine.com/forum/showthread.php?72138-We-Are-Bruce-Lee-at-CHSA)