‘The Grandmaster’ Frustrates, Thrills at Same Time

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Rating: 3.5/5.0

CHICAGO – The saga of Wong Kar-wai’s “The Grandmaster” is already pretty well-known in the circles of those who would be drawn to the latest work from one of our best living directors. The man behind works like “Chunking Express,” “Happy Together,” and “In the Mood For Love” demands attention every time. And this time he got some from the notorious Harvey Weinstein, a man who brought Wong’s latest work stateside but in a very different form than it is playing in any other market. Numerous articles have already been written that break down the differences between “The Chinese Cut” and the American one, and many of the changes seem inherent to significant problems that I had with the only version I’ve seen. I like enough of what remains after Harvey’s scissoring to recommend you see “The Grandmaster,” if only to have a point of comparison once we all get to see the version we were meant to all along.

Ip Man (regular WKW collaborator Tony Leung) is fighting, in the rain, at night, against a dozen or so foes. “The Grandmaster” opens in stylish combat and sets its tone. Philippe Le Sourd’s cinematography zooms in close on faces, fists, raised legs, bodies slamming into wood barriers, sheets of rain, etc. The film immediately has a very precise, determined style. WKW and his cinematographer use the camera like a martial artist uses his fists and feet – with very precise motion, angles, and detail. He only rarely includes an establishing, overhead shot, focusing more on the specifics of what’s happening than the overall picture. And he continues that up-close approach throughout the film. It’s a startling cinematic choice, one that could easily push away those uncomfortable with extreme close-ups but that worked for me because of its consistency throughout the pic.

The Grandmaster
Photo credit: The Weinstein Company

“The Grandmaster” tells the well-known tale of how Ip Man went from a rookie martial artist to the man who would teach Bruce Lee most of what he knew about the combat form. Cutting in often-drastic ways chronologically, WKW’s script becomes somewhat episodic, and often to the point of confusion. It’s hard to tell how much of that confusion is related to the Weinstein cuts but the American version does include narration and title cards that weren’t in the Chinese and I believe those attempts at explanation actually only serve to cloud the final product more. It’s not that I feel that a moody piece like “Grandmaster” needs more explanation but that this version is kind of caught in the middle of poetry and history, and I believe the original likely leans more satisfactorily to the former.

However, there’s enough of Wong’s stunning visual confidence that remains. This version of “The Grandmaster,” and, to be fair, possibly the other one as well, loses its emotional connective tissue but becomes a stunning collection of images and scenes. There’s a staircase fight sequence between Ip Man and Gong Er (Zhang Ziyi), the daughter of the grandmaster who gives his title over to Ip that eventually becomes his romantic partner, that’s one of the most beautifully staged in years. It’s ballet. And then it’s topped by a stunning scene later in the film set on a train station platform that every martial arts fan simply must see.

The Grandmaster
Photo credit: The Weinstein Company

As for performance, Leung brings the gravity that one would expect from such a great actor with his pedigree and regular collaborator with WKW. He’s perfectly matched by the beautiful Zhang, bringing much of the energy she brought to hits like “Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon” and “House of Flying Daggers.” Fans of either actor should consider this a must-see.

But the real star of “The Grandmaster” is Wong Kar-wai. A notorious perfectionist – the opening, rain-soaked scene reportedly took 40 days to shoot and this film has been in some stage of active production for over four years – Wong doesn’t frame a shot without considering everything in frame and its context in the scene and film overall. He’s obsessively detailed and yet also finds a way to maintain the emotion that so many of the OCD-level craftsman lose in their finetuning (which is one of several reasons that “In the Mood for Love” is such a masterpiece…it captures heartbreak with the note-by-note detail of a classical music composer).

Even though he reportedly oversaw the Weinstein changes, Wong seems like one of the creative voices least conducive to producer editing after his final cut. Once again, I do think there are some issues in storytelling here that even the Chinese Cut wouldn’t fix (and international and festival reviews of that version make it seem like they help but not entirely) but I still consider my “Grandmaster” experience incomplete for now. And it’s a testament to how much quality still remains that I want to complete it.

By BRIAN TALLERICO Content Director HollywoodChicago.com brian@hollywoodchicago.com