The Grandmaster

The Grandmaster (original title Yidai zongshi) is a Hong Kong-Chinese film from 2013, written and directed by Wong Kar-wai. It is spoken in Mandarin, Cantonese and Japanese. It premiered in China on 8 January 2013 and in Hong Kong two days later. The film tells of the life of Wing Chun master Ip Man, played by Tony Leung Chiu-wai, and of other martial arts masters. Zhang Ziyi plays Gong Er of the Gong family, whose style is Baguazhang, Chang Chen plays the character Yixiantian, linked with Bajiquan, and choreographer Yuen Woo-ping appears as Chan Wah-shun, Ip Man's teacher. The styles shown in the film also include Hung Gar and Wudangquan. The fights were choreographed by Yuen Woo-ping, who won the Hong Kong Film Award for Best Action Choreography for them in 2014; a year earlier he had been nominated in the same category for the Golden Horse Award. A reviewer for Variety called the film one of the most sweeping and at the same time most ethereal treatments of authentic martial art on screen. The film was announced in 2008 and its development dragged on, partly because Tony Leung Chiu-wai broke his arm while training Wing Chun. There are three cuts: Chinese (130 minutes), Berlin (123 minutes) and American (108 minutes). At the Hong Kong Film Awards the film won a record twelve awards, including Best Film and Best Director, and at the Oscars it was nominated for cinematography and costume design.

Martial arts in this work

Fight choreography

According to Wong Kar-wai, the leading actors had no fighting training, so every movement had to be very precise; in his words, the fights required weeks of choreography and rehearsal under Yuen Woo-ping. Tony Leung Chiu-wai prepared for the role of Ip Man by training Wing Chun and, among other things, by reading books by Bruce Lee; he described the real Ip Man as more of a scholar than a fighter type. He broke his arm during preparation: according to some sources it was a single fracture during training, while Leung himself spoke in a 2013 interview of two during filming. Zhang Ziyi, by her own account a professional dancer for six years, trained Baguazhang for the role of Gong Er and after filming said she did not want to make another fighting film, because her body could not endure it.

Fact and fiction

The central character of the film is the real Wing Chun master Ip Man, but not all the characters have a documented historical model. According to English Wikipedia, Gong Er of the Gong family, who represents Baguazhang in the film, is probably fictional or heavily dramatized; we have not been able to find a reliably documented historical model for her. Likewise, we did not find in the sources reliable confirmation of a real model for the character Yixiantian, whom the film links with Bajiquan. Chan Wah-shun, Ip Man's teacher, who is played in the film by choreographer Yuen Woo-ping, is by contrast a real person.

People and martial arts

• Ip Manthe real person the work is about· Wing Chun (real practitioner)
• Wong Kar-waiDirector
• Yuen Woo-pingFight choreographer
• Tony Leung Chiu-waiActor — as Ip Man· Wing Chun (portrays the art on screen)
• Zhang ZiyiActor — as Gong Er (Gong Ruomei)· Baguazhang (portrays the art on screen)
• Chang ChenActor — as Yixiantian· Bajiquan (portrays the art on screen)
• Yuen Woo-pingActor — as Chan Wah-shun· Wing Chun (portrays the art on screen)

Awards

• Nominated · Golden Horse Awards (50.), Best Action Choreography (2013) — Yuen Woo-ping
• Won · Hong Kong Film Awards (33.), Best Action Choreography (2014) — Yuen Woo-ping
• Nominated · Academy Awards (86.), Best Cinematography (2014)
• Nominated · Academy Awards (86.), Best Costume Design (2014)