The
grandmaster (martial arts) is a 2013 film from
Hong Kong director
Wong Kar-wai (王家衛) and starring
Tony Leung (梁朝偉) as the primary character, historical
Ip Man (葉問). The film covers around ages 40-60 of Ip Man, from his fleeing from
Foshan to
Hong Kong during the
Second Sino-Japanese War to the founding and development of his academy and fast forwarding to his death.
The film portrays itself as recounting the historical events in Ip Man's life before he created his Hong Kong school which would eventual train a number of
famous martial artists, including
Bruce Lee. This feels like a mere contrivance—and one which you may reasonably ignore—for scripting a beautiful
wuxia film that looks very Wong Kar-wai.
The beautiful fight scenes are worth seeing the movie, which otherwise feels hollow. Much of the script feels rushed from one era to another, or from one fight scene to another. There is less internal dialog and development than in other
Wong Kar-wai films. While still present, and perhaps for the best given that any more might have felt fake in the historical context, this leaves a flat feeling to the film.