The Grandmaster

(Wong Kar Wai, 2013, Hong Kong/China, 130 minutes)

With a seed for the film planted in Wong’s head in 1996, then going into early pre-production around 2006, Wong Kar Wai’s The Grandmaster was to be the first film about Bruce Lee’s trainer Ip Man, who at the time was not terribly well-known. Wong’s endless production process once again got the better of him, though, and by the time The Grandmaster was released in 2013 it was the fifth Ip Man film released, after the first two with Donnie Yen and a couple directed by Herman Yau. Fun as those films are, Wong’s was worth the wait. Tony Leung Chiu-wai, who did his first-ever kung fu training at age 47 for this role, is Ip, playing opposite Zhang Ziyi’s Gong Er, a role created specifically for her. With fight choreography by Yuen Woo-ping (who served a similar role on the sets of the Matrix trilogy, the K*ll Bill movies, Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon, and many more), cinematography by Sofia Coppola favorite Philippe Le Sourd (The Beguiled, Priscilla), and produced by Megan Ellison at Annapurna Pictures (Spring Breakers, Sausage Party).

In Cantonese, Mandarin, and Japanese with English subtitles.

You may also like the following events from Webster University Film Series:

• This Thursday, 19th February, 07:00 pm, Conversation Piece in Webster Groves
• This Friday, 20th February, 07:00 pm, The Swallows of Kabul in Webster Groves
• Next month, 8th March, 07:00 pm, Fiume o morte! in Webster Groves

Also check out other Entertainment events in Webster Groves, Workshops in Webster Groves, Parties in Webster Groves.