The Grandmaster
| Movie | |
|---|---|
| German title | The Grandmaster |
| Original title |
一代 宗師 /
一代 宗师 Yī dài zōngshī |
| Country of production | People's Republic of China , Hong Kong |
| original language | Mandarin , Cantonese , Japanese |
| Publishing year | 2013 |
| length | 120 minutes |
| Age rating | FSK 12 |
| Rod | |
| Director | Wong Kar-Wai |
| script | Wong Kar-Wai, Xu Haofeng , Zou Jingzhi |
| production |
Jacky Yee Wah Pang , Wong Kar-Wai |
| music | Shigeru Umebayashi |
| camera | Philippe Le Sourd |
| cut | William Chang |
| occupation | |
| |
The Grandmaster , in German Der Großmeister , (Original title: Chinese 一代 宗師 / 一代 宗师 , Pinyin Yī dài zōngshī , Jyutping Jat 1 Doi 6 Zung 1 si 1 - "A venerable master of his era / generation") is a film by the Chinese director Wong Kar-Wai from 2013 , about the life of the Chinese martial artist Yip Man (Ip Man) , who is considered a mentor to Bruce Lee . The film was the opening film of the Berlin International Film Festival on February 7, 2013 . The Grandmaster ran out of competition as Wong Kar-Wai was the festival's jury president.
The film was only finalized by Wong Kar-Wai 72 hours before its release. The production cost was estimated at 240 million RMB (about 28 million euros).
action
1936: There is a curfew in Foshan in southern China because of separatist unrest. The Wing Chun master Ip Man ( called Ye Wen in the film after the highly Chinese pinyin pronunciation, ( 葉 問 / 叶 问 , Yè Wèn , Jyutping Jip 6 Man 6 , Yale Ip Man )) comes from a wealthy merchant family in Foshan and is married to Zhang Yongcheng. In the opening scene in the rain, he fights dozens of men, not even losing his characteristic white hat.
Gong Baosen, master of Bagua and Xingyi and leading representative of the martial arts schools in North China, visits the south with his daughter Gong Er and his followers to announce his departure as master. His best student Ma San, who has achieved high mastery in Xingyi, is to be his successor. Gong wishes one last exhibition fight against an equal representative of the southern schools. The Ip Man, unknown in the north, is unanimously chosen by the southern masters.
The fight should take place in the traditional "Golden Pavilion". The so far undefeated gong challenges Ye Wen to break a cake in a rather philosophical duel. Ye Wen succeeds in this and shows that his vision goes further than that of the old master. The bagua master Gong Er sees this hurt her family's honor and challenges Ye Wen to a duel at the winners' banquet. Ye Wen assures Gong Er of victory should he damage a piece of furniture. As a result, he loses the ballet-like fight when a step breaks under his foot.
Japan begins attacking China in 1937 before the war reaches Foshan in October 1938. Because Ye Wen refuses to collaborate with the Japanese occupiers, the family becomes increasingly impoverished. Ye Wen's daughters die and he leaves his wife intending to return. Ma San, on the other hand, cooperates and thus attracts the displeasure of his master Gong Baosen, who wants to withdraw the legacy of the family from him. In his anger, Ma San fatally injures his teacher Gong. Although her father explicitly did not demand any retaliation before his death, Gong Er devotes himself entirely to revenge. She broke off her engagement and swore an oath that forbids her ever to marry, have children, or teach. Meanwhile, Ye Wen tries to gain a foothold as a martial arts teacher in Hong Kong .
Yi Xian Tian, known as the razor, is a Kuomintang intelligence agent . He now wants to leave this and escapes by defeating all the other agents present in an argument similar to the first fight in the film. He fled to Hong Kong and founded a Bajiquan martial arts school in 1952 in the “White Rose Hair Salon” .
New Year 1950: Gong He has meanwhile become a doctor and leads a quiet life when Ye Wen visits her to see again the art of the 64 hands (from Baguazhang ), which only she can master. She tells him that she beat Ma San exactly 10 years ago. He then recognized her as the sole heir of the Gong family and revealed to her the last secret that Gong Baosen had entrusted to him.
Gong He stopped practicing as a doctor in 1952. She has been addicted to opium since she was injured in the fight against Ma San . She can no longer control the 64 hands of the Baguazhang either. Ye Wen meets her for the last time. She confesses to him the feelings she has had for him since they first met. In 1953 she dies. She never lost a fight with it, except the one against herself.
Ye Wen received his identity card as a registered citizen in Hong Kong in 1953 after the border with China was closed. He succeeded in popularizing Wing Chun Kung Fu and became the teacher of famous fighters like Bruce Lee before he died in 1972.
Reviews
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“[…] Wong Kar-Wais sometimes beautiful, but excessively long and emotionally surprisingly unrefined strips suffer from his self-pitying indulgence in grief. Everything important is over anyway, and the present is just another word for longing backwards. This contempt for the present wanders like a virus back into the current events of The Grandmaster: No moment is really completely present, instead everything always refers to itself, deeper into time and further away from agency. [...] "
Main actor Tony Leung, however, is praised by the critics for his performance. Stephanie Zacharek writes at Film.com:
"[...] We want films that are overwhelming but delicate, sleek but strong, hypnotic but confident. The Grandmaster is trying to be all of these at once and it may be that trying that trips him up. But one thing remains constant: Leung captivates the camera. His face is almost a film of its own. The staging around him is just an excuse. [...] "
background
- There are several editing variants of the film. The international version is 123 minutes long. In the USA there is a 108 minute version in which other scenes are also used. In addition, a 3D version was created that was evaluated in Chinese cinemas.
- In 2008 a film was released under the title Ip Man which also tells the story of Ip Man.
Awards (selection)
The production has been nominated for dozens of film awards internationally and has received just as many awards. The film received the Asian Film Award and Hong Kong Film Award in several categories in 2014 .
Philippe Le Sourd received an Oscar nomination for his work in the category Best Cinematography in 2014 . William Chang Suk Ping was nominated for Best Costume Design .
Web links
- The Grandmaster in the Internet Movie Database (English)
- Hong Kong Movie DataBase: The Grandmaster (Chinese / English)
Individual evidence
- ^ Certificate of Approval for The Grandmaster . Voluntary self-regulation of the film industry , April 2013 (PDF; test number: 138 390 K).
- ↑ Berlinale press release: WONG Kar Wais The Grandmaster opens 63rd Berlinale
- ↑ Grandmaster has masterful BO debut. (No longer available online.) Film Business Asia, archived from the original on September 2, 2015 ; accessed on August 4, 2015 . Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.
- ^ Nino Klingler: The Grandmaster. critic.de, February 7, 2013, accessed March 23, 2013 .
- ^ Stephanie Zacharek: 'The Grandmaster' Review. film.com, accessed June 8, 2015 .
- ↑ schnittberichte.com , accessed on June 8, 2015
