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Having grown up on some of the finest Kung Fu movies ever made, I’ve sorely felt the gap left in the market since things turned more towards guns and explosions and further away from good old fashioned hand-to-hand combat. The Grandmaster, from acclaimed filmmaker Wong Kar Wai, is the first film I’ve seen at a mainstream cinema in over a decade that captures the spirit of the great Kung Fu classics.
The Grandmaster is inspired by the life and times of the legendary kung fu master, Ip Man (Yip Man), the Kung Fu master of the school where Bruce Lee learned martial arts. The story spans the tumultuous Republican era that followed the fall of China’s last dynasty, a time of chaos, division and war that was also the golden age of Chinese martial arts.
Kar Wai has made a kung fu film the likes we haven’t seen in years, following six years of research and a virtual battalion of martial arts trainers on set to ensure that the film portrays both the Chinese martial arts and the world of the martial artists with unprecedented authenticity. The fight scenes are shot with a ridiculous attention to detail and were choreographed by Yuen Wo Ping, renowned for his work on films including THE MATRIX, KILL BILL and CROUCHING TIGER, HIDDEN DRAGON, so expect big things.
This film is simply unmissable, not yet convinced? Check out the clip above. It’s out this Friday December 5th so make sure you check it out at a decent cinema.
