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Berlin International Film Festival, Donnie Yen, Grandmaster Gala premiere, Ip Man, Marina Bay Sands, Martial arts film, The Grandmaster, Tony Leung, Wing Chun, Wong Kar-wai
Will you be catching “The Grandmaster” in theaters this coming 31 Jan 2013? I attended the gala premiere of ‘The Grandmaster’ last night at MBS Grand Theater and had the good fortune to catch Tony Leung up close when he walked the red carpet. He was probably just an arm length away from me and his charm almost made me hyperventilate.
Tony Leung speaking to the audience at MBS Grand Theater before the screening
The Grandmaster tells the story of martial-arts master Ip Man, the man who trained Bruce Lee. The film is directed and written by Wong Kar-wai and starred Tony Leung as Yip Man. It will be the opening film at the 63rd Berlin International Film Festival in February 2013.
My thoughts on the movie:
Well, for one, it’s not the same ‘Ip Man‘ movie that Donnie Yen acted in, so go in with an open heart and don’t expect the storyline to be the same.
The fighting scenes are aplenty. What’s impressive is that the actors did not use doubles for this movie and did all the stunts on their own. (They definitely did not look amateur).
What’s not so good is the slow motion effects (that Wong Kar-wai is famous for) is used a tad too much in the entire movie which makes it an overkill, in my opinion.
This is not just a Kung Fu film, but more of an artistic film. Each fighting scene is so artistically shot, with focus on the movements, the rain, every single detail. There are scenes of falling snow, dripping water, silent scenes rather than fighting and shouting all the time. These scenes made me stop and think.
Characters wise, I liked Donnie Yen’s portrayal of Ip Man but he’s really just very Kung Fu-ish to me. Not a man I would fall in love with after watching the movie.
When Tony portrays Ip Man, there’s this charm about him which you can’t simply put down in words. I was charmed once again by his acting in the movie, even though he’s quite old now.
Overall, it’s a good movie but I wouldn’t spend 2 hours to catch it again. This is the kind of movie you watch once and remember for a long time.
Till date, the only movie I have re-watched a few times and not get tired of is still Titanic. Oh Jack, you were so handsome then…
Okay, watch the trailer below and make yourself excited for the launch! Be sure to catch it if you’re a fan of Ip Man!
Related articles
- Tony Leung says no soured ties with Wong Kar-wai (miamiherald.com)
- Wong Kar Wai returns with ‘The Grandmasters’ (rappler.com)
- The Grandmaster by Wong Kar Wai (hkauteur.wordpress.com)
Well to me Martial Arts means respect and discipline.
I have trained in different Martial arts now for much more than 20 years.
I have seen lots of people stick around but one other thing that I have noticed will be the respect and discipline that’s changed those peoples perception of life.
Young children that have started that are now on the wrong side of the tracks, always in trouble and no idea how to respect other kids. Put them in a controlled environment with discipline and fighting and they soon start to understand.
Martial arts is a way for kids in their teens and adults to get rid of their aggression without hurting or bullying anyone.
The premier looks like it would have been fun, I just hope that there is more to the movie than shown in the teaser. It looked like a knockoff of the Matrix and the martial arts choreography stretches the definition of Wing Chun to say the least.
Hey Bryan! Indeed, I felt that the slow-motion effects (like the in matrix) were used too frequently throughout the movie and was kind of an overkill but the storyline was good and the film had an artistic angle to it, rather than just being a martial arts movie. I recommend watching this on a boring Sat afternoon if you have time to spare
Hey! Do you use Twitter? I’d like to follow you if that would be okay. I’m absolutely enjoying your blog and look forward to new updates.