The Grandmaster (Yi dai zong shi) is a Hong Kong-Chinese martial arts drama film based on the life story of the Wing Chun grandmaster Ip Man. The film was written and directed by Wong Kar-wai. The Grandmaster starred Tony Leung as Ip Man. The movie was released on January 8, 2013 in China, and it was the opening film at the 63rd Berlin International Film Festival in February of 2013. The Grandmaster was selected as part of the 2013 Hong Kong International Film Festival and it is being distributed internationally by The Weinstein Company. The movie opens in the United States on August 30, 2013.
The Grandmaster chronicles the life of the Wing Chun grandmaster Ip Man, the man who trained Bruce Lee. The story begins in the 1930s in Foshan, follows Ip Man’s flight to Hong Kong after the Second Sino-Japanese War and portrays the events leading to Ip Man’s death.
“Don’t tell me how good your skills are, how brilliant your master is and how profound your school is,” he says. “Kung fu: two words. One horizontal, one vertical — if you’re wrong, you’ll be left lying down. If you’re right, you’re left standing — and only the ones who stand have the right to talk.”
~ Ip Man in Grandmaster
Director: Kar Wai Wong
Writers: Kar Wai Wong (story), Kar Wai Wong (screenplay), Jingzhi Zou (screenplay), Haofeng Xu (screenplay)
Stars: Tony Leung Chiu Wai, Ziyi Zhang, Jin Zhang
