Late to the Party Reviews: The Grandmaster (2013)
DISCLAIMER: Unfortunately, I watched The Grandmaster on Netflix which only has the hour-forty-eight minute American version. When I was writing this I thought a lot of my criticism could have been fixed with an added 20-30 minutes, and I have a feeling it may have been, so definitely take this review with a grain of salt. I also found out that the American edit was produced by The Weinstein Company so I’ve decided to blame everything on Harvey Weinstein. You suck, Harvey.
Hello Friends! Still working on the new video and some other fun upcoming projects so here’s a little review.
A lot of the movies I watch each week are not new releases. I find them on Criterion or Netflix or Hulu or whatever and I usually want to write something but it seems a bit strange to write a review of a movie that came out however many years ago— especially if it’s not some kind of classic. But, hey, I started this blog knowing I wouldn’t get much traffic anyways so might as well do what I want. In all honestly, I haven’t seen many movies in theaters in the past couple years (now that I get free movie tickets hopefully that will change!) so I’m often pretty late to the party. Just look at my last “What I Watched this Week,” where I reviewed Mother!, a movie that everyone was writing about in 2017 but no one has talked much about since. There are also a lot of movies that just never crossed my radar and sifting through various streaming platforms or getting a recommendation can sometimes lead to an exciting new (but really old) discovery.
Anyways, as I am late to everything I might as well lean into it. So here we go— Late to the Party Reviews. This week, we’re looking at Wong Kar Wai’s The Grandmaster. The Grandmaster premiered in 2013 and stars Tony Chiu-Wai Leung— a staple in Wong Kar Wai’s films— and Ziyi Zhang. The film tells the story of Ip Man, a renowned Kung Fu master as he rises through the martial arts ranks during the 1930s. As usual, Wong Kar Wai’s directing electrifies the film from the very first scene (perfectly accompanied by the cinematography of Philippe Le Sound). Immediately, the highly stylized camera movements, editing, and color grading draws you in and sets expectations high.
Let me preface this review by saying I know absolutely nothing about the Kung Fu genre. I enjoy action movies, but usually more for the interesting and exciting stories rather than the fight scenes. However, when this film started, I found myself unusually intrigued by the fight scenes, which seemed impeccably constructed to not only elicit a thrill but also to subtly build the character and world building of the film. All of the fight scenes in the film have a purpose and the fact that they are also undoubtably cool conceals the energy put into the scene’s role in building the story— making it seem effortless.
Having seen a few of Wong Kar Wai’s films, I wasn’t too surprised by my initial reaction to the film. Looking back, I wonder how I would have seen this film had I not had such a high expectation for Wai and his impeccable storytelling. But I did and— along with the enticing first scene— my exceptions were set high. And though I will say that much of what strengthened the first scene continues throughout, my enthusiasm for this film subtly began to diminish as the scenes progressed. I kept noticing and admiring details in almost every technical aspect of the film; however, with such a strong foundation of writing, cinematography, and style, flaws quickly caught the eye, evolving steadily into larger issues.
I mentioned before how incredibly constructed each fight scene in the film was. In fact, basically every scene in this film is perfectly put together. From the tone to the framing to the acting, everything seems to take shape in exactly the way it was meant to. One scene in particular— in which Ziyi Zhang’s character, Gong Er, fights Ip Man in order to reclaim her family’s honor— exhibits the extent of precision through which this film approaches scene construction. Unlike some fight scenes which incorporate a lot of dialogue in order to keep those not as excited by kicks and punches entertained, this scene accomplishes a great deal with no dialogue. Ip Man and Gong Er dance from room to room, carefully choosing when to strike and defend. As their bodies communicate, the camera translates for the audience. By the end your expectations of the fight have been thrown into space and a whole new relationship has blossomed from a couple of kicks, punches, and jumps.
You can really take your pick of scenes from this film and in each one you will find such moments of excellence; however, where this film falls a bit short is the connection between these scenes. By connection, I don’t mean how the film moves from one scene to another, but rather the larger picture formulated by the individual scenes. I am all for movies experimenting with multiple styles, genres, and storytelling techniques. The problem occurs when these decisions don’t show a clear purpose. There were times when watching this film where I would think I understood the direction it was going and would think, “brilliant! they are subverting so and so to show so and so!” or “Amazing! This movie is really this genre within a Kung Fu movie!” But then, right after, something would happen that undermined that thought. The best way to explain this is through the characterization of Gong Er.
Around halfway through the film the story shifts to focus more on Gong Er’s background. The sequence of scenes is incredibly engaging and adds a welcome layer to the story’s environment. Gong Er’s story compliments Ip Man’s, both supporting what we already know and expanding upon that knowledge to include aspects of martial arts that we may have not considered through Ip Man’s perspective. This section of the film is actually quite long— taking up at least a third of the film’s run time. In this sequence, Ip Man’s narration is replaced by Gong Er’s voice telling her own story. Changing the narration was a strong choice, and seemed to strengthen the previous narration, which at times seemed a bit redundant. In fact, this sequence seemed to correct many of the flaws that came up in the first half of the film— actually making them seem intentional. Suddenly, I was watching a film that subverted the male centric action story and shifted the stylistic historical tale into a deeply felt character study— now, with a new (and honestly more compelling) character to study.
With ten minutes of the film left, I was completely content with what I had just watched. The missed connections and initial shifts in genre transformed from a misguided experiment to a masterful choice. However, after Gong Er’s section comes to an end, the narration quickly returns to the narration of Ip Man— concluding the last couple of years of his rise through montage and eventually leading to the fact that he was Bruce Lee’s teacher. Again, the scene in itself is great. The montage works as exposition and we get a good sense of how Ip Man’s story leads to gaining the title of “Grandmaster.” However, the scene is entirely detached from Gong Er’s story and (especially considering the end of that story, which won’t spoil) the change in tone smacks into the viewer right in the face— leaving us thrown off and a bit confused as the film ends.
All in all, I did enjoy this film. The characters and story were interesting, the directing was engaging, and the film allowed me to experience a world unknown to my own. However, the fact that this film has such strengths— and therefore such potential— lead to an enhanced sense of disappointment in its shortcomings, ultimately tainting my overall experience of the film.