Ip Man

Ip Man (葉問) is a Hong Kong film directed by Wilson Yip, made in 2008. It sets the Wing Chun master Ip Man in Foshan of the thirties and in the years of the Japanese occupation. The lead is played by Donnie Yen, for whom this was the fourth collaboration with Yip; the producer was Raymond Wong. Filming ran from March to August 2008, not in Foshan but in Shanghai, where production designer Kenneth Mak built a cotton mill in an abandoned warehouse and hinted at Foshan's mix of cultures with Western lamps and furniture. The film's adviser was Ip Man's eldest son, Ip Chun. He was not satisfied with everything: he regretted that it was not shot in Foshan itself and pointed out that the film house is bigger than the real one. The original title Grandmaster Yip Man was withdrawn by the producer because of a dispute with Wong Kar-wai's upcoming film The Grandmaster. At the 28th Hong Kong Film Awards in April 2009, Ip Man won the award for best film, and Sammo Hung with Tony Leung Siu-hung won for action choreography; Wilson Yip and Donnie Yen were nominated for directing and the lead role. For the action, Sammo Hung also received the Golden Horse award that same year. The film began a series in which the same pair, Yen and Yip, went on to make three sequels, from Ip Man 2 in 2010 to Ip Man 4: The Finale in 2019.

Martial arts in this work

Fight choreography

Sammo Hung directed the action and prepared the choreography with Tony Leung Siu-hung. Hung was brought in also because he had already shown Wing Chun in Warriors Two (1978) and The Prodigal Son (1982). Donnie Yen had Shaolin kung-fu and wudangquan behind him, taught by his mother in childhood, plus taekwondo and competitive wushu, but had not practised Wing Chun until then. He accepted the role at the end of 2007 and, according to his biographies, then studied Wing Chun for about nine months under Ip Chun; we did not find an interview confirming the length of the training. According to the same sources, Ip Chun praised how quickly Yen grasped the principle of Wing Chun. The Japanese General Miura, the opponent in the final duel, is played by Hiroyuki Ikeuchi, a judo black belt. He performs karate in the film as an actor; a month before filming he trained with Sammo Hung and called Hung's guidance demanding. Filming was not free of injuries: in rehearsal an axe hit Yen near the left eye, and Ikeuchi suffered a mild concussion.

Fact and fiction

The filmmakers did not present the film as a faithful biography. Main plot turns, including the duels with General Miura, were created for tension; in Ip Man's documented biography neither General Miura nor the fight against ten karateka appears. What Ip Man actually did during the war is not known for certain. It is said that in 1938 he entered an intelligence academy in Guizhou and returned to Foshan as an agent, which is disputed; according to another account he lived with Kwok Fu during the war and returned to Foshan only afterwards. It is documented that after the war he commanded a Foshan police patrol for several years and in 1949 left for Hong Kong with his family. The film thus depicts a real person and a real art, but the occupation story is largely fiction.

People and martial arts

• Ip Manthe real person the work is about· Wing Chun (real practitioner)
• Wilson YipDirector
• Sammo HungAction director· Wing Chun
• Tony Leung Siu-hungFight choreographer· Wing Chun
• Donnie YenActor — as Ip Man· Wing Chun (portrays the art on screen)
• Hiroyuki IkeuchiActor — as Miura· Karate (portrays the art on screen)
• Yip ChunTechnical advisor· Wing Chun (real practitioner)

Awards

• Won · Hong Kong Film Awards, Best Film (2009)
• Won · Hong Kong Film Awards, Best Action Choreography (2009) — Sammo Hung
• Nominated · Hong Kong Film Awards, Best Director (Wilson Yip) (2009)
• Nominated · Hong Kong Film Awards, Best Actor (2009) — Donnie Yen
• Won · Golden Horse Awards, Best Action Choreography (2009) — Sammo Hung

Series