The Grandmaster

classified 15 S
Film

Please note: This was screened in Dec 2014

Director
Wong Kar Wai
Cast
Tony Chiu Wai Leung, Cung Le, Qingxiang Wang
Details
108 mins, Subtitled, 2013, Hong Kong/China

Revered Chinese auteur Wong Kar Wai (In The Mood For Love, Chungking Express) returns after a six year absence with this ravish Kung Fu melodrama, which chronicles the life of Ip Man (Tony Cheung), the legendary Kung Fu master whose style would affect a generation of fighters to come (including one Bruce Lee) as well as tracing the history of pre-war China and martial arts.

The saga begins in 1936, when one of Ip Man’s victories sparks a rivalry (and a romance) with a grandmaster’s daughter (Ziyi Zhang). Its many mesmerising fight sequences are orchestrated by legendary choreographer Yuen Woo-Ping (Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon, The Matrix) and provide the background for a number of reflections on the nature of martial arts and its place in the world.

Grand set pieces and visual opulence aside, this film, whilst rooted in one man’s experiences, is also unmistakably a revealing portrait of a country struggling to maintains its ancient traditions and honour in the face of poverty and war. Like Wong Kar Wai’s subject, come spend some time in the company of a true Grandmaster of his own noble art.

Ticket prices: Screenings before 16:00: £5.50 full / £4.00 concessions. Screenings after 16:00: £8.00 full / £6.50 concessions.


× Close

Help us make our website work better for you

We use Google Analytics to gather information on how our website is used. This information helps us to make changes to our website that improve the usefulness and overall experience for our visitors. If you would like to help us to make continuous improvements to our website, please allow us to set "first-party" cookies (only readable by us) so that we can distinguish visitors and gain greater insights.

Allow cookies for analytics Deny cookies for analytics