From the ridiculous to the sublime. On the day that the Hell Baby red band trailer premieres, we also have the first full length U.S. trailer for Wong Kar-Wai’s The Grandmaster.
The Grandmaster is the story of Wing Chun grandmaster Ip Man (or Yip Man), who also taught Bruce Lee. The film will follow Ip Man from his 1930s youth in Foshan to the events leading to his death, including flashbacks to his early training from the age of seven by master Chan Wah-Sun and his marriage Cheung Wing-sing. The film stars Tony Leung (Infernal Affairs) as the Grandmaster himself, with Ziyi Zhang (Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon) as Gong Er, a fighter and love interest of sorts.
The trailer does not give us much plot, but it does give us a great deal of beautiful slow motion and glimpses of elegant fight sequences. The film seems almost saturated by color. At the very least, this will be a brilliant visual feast. What more do you expect from the director of Chungking Express and In The Mood For Love though? Despite a needless voiceover that attempts to explain what we’re seeing, The Grandmaster looks to be another masterwork from a masterful director.
This is not the first time that the story of Ip Man has been brought to screen either. As recently as 2008 the true story spawned Ip Man and a sequel Ip Man 2, directed by Wilson Yip and starring Donnie Yen. The films, incidentally, were a point of contention for Wong Kar-Wai, who has been attempting to bring the story to the screen for some time.
We will see Wong Kar-Wai’s interpretation of the story before long. The Grandmaster will come to theatres in the US on August 23, 2013.
Check out the remarkable trailer below and let us know what you think about Wong Kar-Wai’s latest in the comments.
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