The Grandmasters 
Release date: 08th January 2013 (China)
Running time: N/A
Director: Wong Kar-wai
Writer: Wong Kar-Wai, Jingzhi Zou, Haofeng Xu
Starring: Tony Leung Chiu Wai, Zhang Yiyi, Song Hye-Kyo, Chang Chen, Zhao Benshan, Julian Cheun Chi-lam, Cung Le.
Thanks to this blog with a really long name, I have found a new trailer for Wong Kar-Wai’s biopic about Ip Man, the legendary Wing Chun grand master who trained other in the martial art, most notable Bruce Lee. I featured this in a trailer post in July of last year but the film has been in production since 2009. Wong Kar-Wai is one of those filmmakers who takes as long as he needs (and sometimes longer – 2046 almost missed its premiere at the 2004 Cannes Film Festival) since he edits things to death in order to achieve perfection. Anyway… There have been quite a few Ip Man films in the meantime with Hong Kong legend Donnie Yen crafting two acclaimed titles that have been released worldwide. Can Wong Kar-Wai recapture interest? Do I need to ask? Of course he can! Check out the trailer!
Awesome. Spine-tingling. Kinetic. Cool. It’s everything I imagined a WKW martial arts film can be! The trailer displays slow-motion, striking cinematography and lighting, cool slow-motion and painfully beautiful people having cool fights. I have long been a fan of Wong Kar-Wai… since high school when I first watched and fell in love with Chungking Express and went about getting every film of his and movie posters and soundtracks to boot. When 2046 was in the cinema I was in the audience! An audience of ten (it was a matinee screening which explains the low number). I cannot wait for The Grandmasters!
Genkinahito 
Ha! it is a stupidly long name. I must have been in quite a passive aggressive mood when I chose it.
I’m a huge Wong Kar Wai fan too; I think Chungking Express must have been my first and is still one of my favourite films and I remember rapidly devouring everything else I could find! I really love Tony Leung too, he’s such a fantastic actor – one of the best working anywhere in the world right now.
I’m not complaining about the name but I was in a rush and I was feeling a bit lazy 😉 I’ll do it properly the next time I link to you.
Chungking Express is a classic. I love it so much. I recently re-watched it for a post then I watched it another two times. I still felt all of the old emotions and I still welled up with tears at points.
Tony Leung is a great actor. It’s a shame so few people in the west know of him. So damn talented and handsome.
The cinematography is gorgeous, but I have to say what I gather from the plot doesn’t seem to be too intriguing/original just yet. But we are talking not-subtitled and not really knowing any of the nuances of the storyline that might set it apart from every other Chinese martial arts movie that came before…
The blog name: it’s longish, but it’s a simple blog title nonetheless. Not a tongue-twister or anything…
Information on the plot is scant but even if it follows conventions it will still be great. That said I cannot see Wong Kar-Wai working with a conventional script which follows the same route as martial arts classics like Ip Man and Once Upon a Time in China et al.
I know. If it weren’t Wong Kar-Wai, I would be concerned, but since it’s him I’m optimistic!
I freaking LOVED Ip Man…and Ip Man 2 which i just seen this year! LOVED! I am going to buy Ip Man so I can watch it whenever I want…that is how much I damn well loved Ip Man. The Grandmasters looks great…I will definitely be seeing this!
Wow, you really did love Ip Man! It’s great to see Donnie Yen making a major impact after all of his work. He’s a great actor/martial artist (totally wasted in Blade II). I enjoyed Ip Man a lot but I think this is going to be God-tier!
Awesome trailer, but what makes me really excited is this means that the movie will be out soon. Been waiting for what seems like FOREVER for WKW to finish it.
High-five fellow Wong Kar-Wai fan! I cannot wait to see the reviews. I refuse to believe this is going to be bad.