"The Grandmaster" (一代宗師)

The Grandmaster [File photo]

Wong Kar-wai's masterpiece "The Grandmaster" is not just about Ip Man, instead it's about a lost Kungfu world where martial artists live and endure.

Ip Man, portrayed by Tony Leung, is the major character in the story as well as the film's narrator. The legendary Ip Man popularized Wing Chun-style boxing in Hong Kong and his student Bruce Lee popularized Kungfu and Kungfu films around the world. "The Grandmaster" also tells the story of Gong Er, a role played by Zhang Ziyi. She is the daughter of an older-generation master in the Baguazhang boxing style. Gong's story actually takes up more space in the movie than Ip Man's.

"The Grandmaster" is a sort of nostalgic "ode to Kungfu" as the aesthetic, lavish and breathtaking cinematography almost forms a sensory overload. The storyline may look slow, jumbled and wobbly, and small roles such as Chang Chen's may seem irrelevant and wasted (it was said the later American cut has a clearer storyline), but the disadvantages might also be seen as advantages for Wong's film. "The Grandmaster" is not a big leap or a breakthrough for Wong's film franchise, but it will be remembered for its visual splendor, stunning Kungfu action, philosophy of love and life, the spiritual world of Kungfu masters, as well as Wong Kar-wai's own vision of his "lost Kungfu world."