The Grandmaster is another film which tells a snapshot of the life of Ip Man and as such perhaps doesn't stand out as something worth seeing on this basis alone, however the director and the cast both attracted me to the film. The plot follows Ip Man as he rises in status thanks to an interaction with Master Gong Yutian. Man and Yutian's daughter Er start a relationship based on their martial arts although Man is married and Er is driven by other forces and cannot be together. Things take other turns when the Japanese occupy China and Man and Er's lives take different paths.
I have written about the plot here but really this is not a part of the film where it is at its best. There is an engaging tone of tragic restraint which is generated from the themes of honor, respect, love and loss but generally the film doesn't make the most of these. The biggest problem is the way the film is structured – it feels very freeflowing and not focused on delivering a narrative so much as a flow or feel. In some ways I liked this a lot but in others it did leave me outside looking in too often. Characters strike poses and expressions that show their pain and their challenges but the material doesn't bring that out as well as I would have liked. Fortunately the performances of the main cast show that they have understood this even if the film's structure doesn't help them. Tony Leung gives us a lot with very little; he has a very expressive face and this he uses well. Ziyi Zhang deserves credit too as she delivers a strong performance – one that really would have benefited from more structure in the overall delivery. The supporting cast features several engaging turns (Qingxiang Wang, Chen Chang and others) but the real star of the film is Kar Wai Wong and his cinematographer Philippe Le Sourd.
I say this because the film is at its best in the stylish visual packaging. The martial arts action is well choreographed and enjoyably and skillfully delivered, but around this there is a great deal to enjoy as the camera captures so many beautiful scenes and beautiful shots, whether they be a fight in the pouring rain or a great shot of a static character. Visually the film really captivated me and the only downside of this was that it made me realize that the story didn't do this as well. The film is still worth seeing but the fragmented structure means it will feel like it is delivering bits of the story and expecting us to be really engaged in the characters even though it very much jumps into key points without a great deal of a link.
