The Grandmaster 2013 123movies

Watch: 一代宗師 2013 123movies, Full Movie Online – Ip Man’s peaceful life in Foshan changes after Gong Yutian seeks an heir for his family in Southern China. Ip Man then meets Gong Er who challenges him for the sake of regaining her family’s honor. After the Second Sino-Japanese War, Ip Man moves to Hong Kong and struggles to provide for his family. In the mean time, Gong Er chooses the path of vengeance after her father was killed by Ma San..
Plot: Ip Man’s peaceful life in Foshan changes after Gong Yutian seeks an heir for his family in Southern China. Ip Man then meets Gong Er who challenges him for the sake of regaining her family’s honor. After the Second Sino-Japanese War, Ip Man moves to Hong Kong and struggles to provide for his family. In the mean time, Gong Er chooses the path of vengeance after her father was killed by Ma San.
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Ratings:

	6.5/10 Votes: 34,770
	78% | RottenTomatoes
	73/100 | MetaCritic
	N/A Votes: 723 Popularity: 15.168 | TMDB

Reviews:

Under-appreciated Gem, more Arts House than Action
The most under-appreciated films usually emerge later as gems, often 10, 20 or even 50 years later. For example, Citizen Kane didn’t win an Academy Award but 20 years later, it was considered one of the greatest films made. The Passion of Joan of Arc (1928) was a critically acclaimed film when released but is really considered more of a gem today than 30-40 years ago. Like fine wine, films get better as they age. Once Upon in the West (1968) when released was celebrated in Europe but panned in the US. Twenty years alter, it is considered one of the greatest films ever made. The Grandmaster comes very close to these films.

The three reasons this film is panned: 1) People want action, the figure Ip Man represents action and this film breaks from traditional kung fu movies but in the same vein as Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon. In essence, it is just as good as Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon. There is plenty of action but martial arts fans want Jet Li, Donnie Yen or Michelle Yeoh. Hence, they will never give this film an 8, 9 or 10. Action is great, but it’s second-rate to the true martial artist fan. 2), People find it complex. The plot is quite simple, really. I suspect it’s more about reading prose and not realizing it’s poetry. Plot is about Ip Man rising to the best in the South and to be challenged by the northern martial artists but war stops everything. half of the movie is about tradition and honor, not about martial arts. Definitely not about good guy beats up bad guy which draws most people’s attention and praise. 3) Ip Man and Gong Er fall in a type of forbidden, unrequited love. It’s bounded more by cultural beliefs than personal beliefs. But to many, this subplot slows or kills the action plot. But love isn’t complicated, or at least we shouldn’t see it that way.

On another final note, this film isn’t about confrontation between the protagonist and antagonist. Rather, Ip Man doesn’t really have an opposing challenge. His challenges are friends, as real martial artists become friends, as mentioned. They test each others’ skills and build respect for each other, much like the test fight with Razor. It is the pretenders who fight, like Ma San. It is about honor and respect, not about violence.

Movie fans who want a real martial artist star will prefer Donnie Yen in Ip Man (2008) which is artistically almost as good a film. In contrast, The Grandmaster is better written, better acted and better cinematography, but Ip Man with Donnie Yen has better fighting scenes. Keep in mind, Bruce Lee never made great films, they were rather B type films but people love his iconic charisma. Many will like the film for the star, not the quality.

So like Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon, this film is mystical and really, martial arts is more a scenic subplot into a man and his world. Or what director Kar Wai Wong intended. Regardless, a question is that should one pan a film because of what it isn’t? Or should one celebrate a film for what it is? A parent celebrates and loves each child, regardless of how different. How can we celebrate this film?

1. It’s slow but that gives a chance to watch the direction and cinematography which is exquisite. One doesn’t rush through The Louvre, but savors the moment. It’s quite masterful and poetic. 2. The screenplay and script. Brilliantly done. The dialogue is simple in appearance but every other line has a double meaning. Not since Once Upon a Time in the West has a simple dialogue taken on so many directions. The viewer has to focus on the words and what they mean. 3. There is beautiful scenes, significant cultural symbolism but it is broken down simplistically, most of the symbolism is cultural. It’s not hard to understand, just place yourself in another world. It’s not a simplistic film like Rocky. Quite the opposite but yet the plot is quite simple, if you realize it’s not just about kung fu. Watching Master Gong Yutian practice in the snowy garden was magnificent. The brothel scenes with the martial artists was surprisingly a wealth of characters, costumes and sets. 4. Acting is strong with Ziyi Zhang leading and maybe overshadowing Tony Chiu Wai Leung. To some, that’s not sensible: why not a film to showcase Donnie Yen with real moves? Bu Donnie isn’t as somber an actor. We see the pain and modesty of Ip Man through Tony Chiu Wai Leung. The plain expressiveness of the actors casts a shadow over the difficult history, the winter months as Ip Man narrates. Ziyi represents the forbidden martial arts, the family secrets, the traditional view of outsiders. Hence she has an important symbolism. Ip Man represents the new, the invention of Bruce Lee and exposure of Wing Chun to the world.

The ending was slightly out of place given the poetry of the film. We didn’t need Ip Man to give his final quote, although it was snappy, it was out of place. Perhaps, just a fade from the photo shoot with the young Bruce Lee.

Just watch and appreciate artistic quality. Real martial arts fans will appreciate the descriptions and dialog over different styles of martial arts. This film won’t be really in a Top 100 list of greatest films, but it comes close and should be in a top 250-500 list of great films. Or one of the 50 best films of the decade. A gem. It just isn’t a traditional martial arts fan film, rather an Arts House film.

I’m not sure whether to give this film a 8.5, 9, 9.5…but seeing the relatively IMDb scores (6.5 at this time), I’m boosting it to its rightful place.

Casey’s Movie Mania: THE GRANDMASTER (2013)
Wong Kar-Wai’s 10 years-in-the-making of the so-called Ip Man biopic is exquisitely photographed and blessed with some dazzling fight choreography, but THE GRANDMASTER is mostly a scattershot mess of unfocused direction.

When director Wong Kar-Wai first announced the project way back in 2002, I bet a lot of die-hard fans are eager to see how the critically-acclaimed art-house director is going to do a big-screen treatment of the legendary Ip Man. Fast forward to 2013 (after a string of delays and whatnot), THE GRANDMASTER has came and gone with mostly favorable reviews and successful box office runs. However, after finally watching it, I must say that THE GRANDMASTER turns out to be an overrated effort after all.

Likewise, Wong Kar-Wai is always meticulous when comes to distinctive visual flair. Philippe Le Sourd and Song Xiaofei’s sumptuous cinematography is nice to look at, while beautifully framed Yuen Woo-Ping’s fight choreography with such balletic mix of slow motion and various camera speeds. The rest of the technical credits are equally ace — ranging from its elaborate production design to its detailed costume design. On the plus side, the first half is particularly engaging. As for the cast, Zhang Ziyi excels the most as the hotheaded, yet emotionally frustrating Gong Er.

The second half is hastily stitched together, while burdened by terribly inconsistent pace. It’s understandable that Wong Kar-Wai’s movie is always fragmented but this time, THE GRANDMASTER is way uneven yet unfocused. Another biggest problem here is the sudden change of focus from narrating Ip Man story to Gong Er story. If that’s not insulting enough, the introduction of Chang Chen’s The Razor character feels vague and needless altogether. Apart from Zhang Ziyi’s exceptional performance, it’s rather surprising to see the usually-reliable Tony Leung Chiu-Wai doesn’t impress much as Ip Man. Although he is charismatic enough, he fails to expand his Ip Man character with a satisfying emotional center other than looking cool or broods a lot. Popular Korean actress Song Hye-Kyo is sadly neglected in a thankless role (thanks to Wong Kar-Wai for cutting off most of her scenes in the editing room) as Ip Man’s wife, Zhang Yongcheng.

It’s quite sad to see what could have been another classic Wong Kar-Wai movie-in-the-making turns out to be a disappointment. Strictly for die-hard fans.

http://caseymoviemania.blogspot.com/2013/04/the-grandmaster-2013.html

Other Information:

Original Language cn
Runtime 2 hr 10 min (130 min), 1 hr 48 min (108 min) (cut) (USA), 2 hr 2 min (122 min) (international), 1 hr 51 min (111 min) (3-D) (China)
Budget 3860000
Revenue 64076736
Status Released
Rated PG-13
Genre Action, Biography, Drama
Director Kar-Wai Wong
Writer Kar-Wai Wong, Jingzhi Zou, Haofeng Xu
Actors Tony Chiu-Wai Leung, Ziyi Zhang, Jin Zhang
Country Hong Kong, China
Awards Nominated for 2 Oscars. 68 wins & 72 nominations total
Production Company N/A
Website N/A

Technical Information:

Sound Mix Dolby Digital, Dolby Atmos
Aspect Ratio 2.35 : 1
Camera Arricam LT, Cooke S4 and Angenieux Optimo Lenses, Arricam ST, Cooke S4 and Angenieux Optimo Lenses, Arriflex 435 Xtreme, Cooke S4 and Angenieux Optimo Lenses, Phantom Flex, Cooke S4 Lenses (high-speed shots)
Laboratory Kantana, Bangkok, Thailand (laboratory), Postique (digital intermediate)
Film Length N/A
Negative Format 35 mm (Fuji Eterna 250D 8563, Eterna 500T 8573), Digital (high-speed shots)
Cinematographic Process Digital (source format) (high-speed shots), Digital Intermediate (2K) (master format), Super 35 (source format)
Printed Film Format 35 mm (anamorphic), D-Cinema