Wong Kar-Wai returns to form after his brief foray with the English language film, My Blueberry Nights, with his martial arts epic The Grandmaster (2013) with Tony Leung and Ziyi Zhang. It is essentially the story of Ip Man, Bruce Lee's kung fu instructor, which spans several decades of turmoil in China. It seems that an unrequited romance was grafted onto the action film that would give it that Wong Kar-wai romantic streak. There are several astonishing fight sequences especially at the beginning of the film where there is a battle show down in a rain pour (Akira Kurosawa would approve). It is Wong Kar-wai's second martial arts film (the other was Ashes of Time), but it still feels like something of a departure from his typical film project. I don't think it stands up to his best films, but it is a brilliant pageant of visually stunning set pieces.
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Are the fight scenes the usual 'people on strings'/special effects type that we get nowadays, or the genuine athleticism of times gone by? I'm not keen on the strings/effects.
Posted by: Edward | July 05, 2013 at 01:07 PM
Not exactly people on strings, but stylized in a cool way.
Posted by: MC | July 05, 2013 at 05:11 PM