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‘The Grandmaster’s missing scenes appear in the International Version

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Sina:

‘The Grandmaster’ was the opening film of the 63rd Berlin Film Festival. Tony Leung Chiu-wai and Zhang Ziyi walked the red carpet hand in hand as they were welcomed with cheers and applause. Although Leung frequently attended international film festivals, this was his first time at the Berlin Film Festival. At the opening ceremony, the host compared Wong Kar-wai’s movies to women who made people fall for them unknowingly. She even jokingly asked Wong Kar Wai, “If ‘The Grandmaster’ is a woman too, would you get intimate with her or vanish with her?” Wong Kar-wai humorously said, “Both feel pretty exciting.”

The film premiered in Berlin and received a 10 minute applause after the show. Wong Kar-wai cut a special “Berlin version” with 20 differences from the China and Hong Kong version. The film was about 10 minutes shorter. Because some foreign media did not understand the historical backdrop, some reviews said that it “cannot surpass In The Mood For Love“.

The Berlin Film Festival version of ‘The Grandmaster’ mainly added three important scenes and some subtitles that explained the historical background. Some of the subplots with an unclear relationship to the main plot were removed or replaced. The most notable addition that was not in the China and Hong Kong version was how Chang Chen‘s Yi Xiantian and Zhang Ziyi’s Gong Er met and their relationship. After Gong Er saved Yi Xiantian on the train, they later ran into each other at a Hong Kong restaurant named Old Muslim but did not acknowledge each other. Their reunion gave Yi Xiantian the motivation to stay in Hong Kong, which was easier to comprehend for the audience.

Another addition was the rainy night fight scene with Ip Man and Yi Xiantian. The story became more intense and made people’s blood boiled. This scene caught Gong Yutian’s eyes. He praised Ip Man’s kung fu abilities and after asking others he learned that the fighter was the Invincible in Foshan Ip Man. Other addition scenes included a young Bruce Lee staring at Ip Man from the school, Ip Man teaching Bruce Lee martial arts and Ip man’s ferocious fight with Cung Le. Ip Man’s challenge in Hong Kong to Ding Lianshan (Zhao Benshan) was removed.

Tony Leung did not feel that his scenes were removed, the most important was for the audience to accept the pace of the story. “I don’t mind the changes in the different versions, the most important is for the story to make sense.” Although Wong Kar Wai earlier was busy with ‘The Grandmaster‘s promotion, in a short month he was able to make even better changes. The mastery of his craft truly left people speechless.

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Wong Kar-wai’s road to celebrated director

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Wong Kar Wai’s anticipated film, ‘The Grandmaster’, is now finally playing in theaters. The martial arts movie is a yet another biopic of the Wing Chun master, Ip Man, and is the fourth Ip Man feature film to be released in the last six years. ‘The Grandmaster’, however, is unrelated to Wilson Yip’s highly successful Ip Man trilogy, the series that started the current Ip Man and Wing Chun trend. In fact, Wong’s idea to make a biopic for the legendary martial artist was conceived more than a decade ago, when he was working on his 1997  film, ‘Happy Together’.

Known for his slow-paced art films, Wong’s productions never coincided well with mainstream cinema. His announcement on ‘The Grandmaster’ project pricked up ears, but despite past skepticism on Wong’s ability to do action cinematography, ‘The Grandmaster’ has been a box office success, and has become Wong’s highest grossing film of his career.

Wong is now an internationally acclaimed and award-winning director, but there is no such thing as overnight success. Although Wong was immediately propelled to stardom after the release of his debut feature film, ‘As Tears Go By’, in 1988, the long-awaited stardom took many years of blood, sweat, and tears.

Born in Shanghai, Wong and his family emigrated to Hong Kong when he was five years old. His family was not wealthy. Wong’s father was a sailor, and rarely had the opportunity to stay at home with his wife and son. Soon afterwards, Wong’s father found a job as a hotel manager in Malaysia, leaving Wong and his mother behind in Hong Kong. At the time, Wong’s mother used to bring him to the theaters every day to watch movies, which allegedly contributed to his interest in filmmaking.

Wong graduated from Hong Kong Polytechnic University in 1980, majoring in graphic design. After his graduation, Wong briefly worked as a sales clerk in a clothing store. In 1981, Wong auditioned for TVB’s scriptwriting class, where he met his wife Chan Yi Kan, a variety program producer for the television station.

Wong struggled as a scriptwriter during his days with TVB. Chan then encouraged Wong to leave the station to focus on directing and writing his own films. After Chan’s many long meetings with various film distributors and investors, Wong’s debut film, ‘As Tears Go By’, was finally released in 1988 by In-Gear Film Production. Chan also produced the film. ‘As Tears Go By’ was a critical and box office success. Grossing over $11 million HKD in the Hong Kong box office, the film received ten nominations at the 8th Hong Kong Film Awards, and won two awards.

Wong’s second film in 1990, ‘Days of Being Wild’, was an even greater critical success, receiving nine HKFA nominations and winning five, including Best Picture, Best Director for Wong, and Best Actor for Leslie Cheung. However, it was Wong’s 2000 film, ‘In the Mood for Love’ that shot Wong to international acclaim.

Wong, Chan, and their 16-year-old son currently reside in a million-dollar house in Repulse Bay. The low-key director is often seen eating in outdoor restaurants around the neighborhood. Wong’s son physically resembles a young Tony Leung, which may be a reason as to why Wong frequently collaborates with the actor.

After two weeks of release, ‘The Grandmaster’ has already earned 252 million RMB. The great care in which Wong Kar-wai took with each frame of the film, the props detail, and the action choreography were evident, resulting in a film of great visual beauty and precision.

‘The Grandmaster’ will be the opening film at the 63rd Berlin International Film Festival, which will take place in February. Wong denied earlier rumors that there will be a four-hour director’s cut of The Grandmaster, but acknowledged he is currently editing a different international edition containing slightly different content from the mainland Chinese version.

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Zhang Ziyi stole Tony Leung’s limelight in ‘The Grandmaster’

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Apple Daily:

Portraying Ip Man in ‘The Grandmaster’  Tony Leung  jokingly moaned, “I have been training under a Wing Chun master for the past 3 years, yet the scenes I have can’t beat Zhang Ziyi.” Although director Wong Kar-wai had set out to make a biopic about Ip Man, ‘The Grandmaster’ grew into a sprawling account of Chinese martial arts. In the opening scene, Tony Leung fought off 10 of his adversaries in a rainy scene, showcasing Wong Kar-wai’s signature martial arts aesthetics. In another scene, Leung and Zhang Ziyi were dueling at the Golden House; the awe-inspiring exchange proved the hard work both actors had put in throughout their training.

In ‘The Grandmaster’, Tony Leung hardly has many spoken lines, which prompted wife, Carina Lau to nickname him as “The Silent Ghost” after watching his performance. Director Wong Kar-wai explained, “Initially I gave Tony many lines, but I deleted them in the end because Ip Man is a man of few words. Without saying a word, he is able to command the room.” On the contrary, Zhang Ziyi had some of the best lines in the film. At the same time, her internal struggle between her admiration for Leung’s Ip Man and her impulse for exacting revenge for her father proved to be a well-received performance.

Under Wong Kar-wai’s heavy-handed editing, Chang Chen, Song Hye-kyo, and Julian Cheung Chi-lam have little screen time in ‘The Grandmaster’, despite extended filming. Taiwanese actor Chang Chen, trained for three years under a Baji master for his role; however, he ended up appearing in only three scenes in the film. Chang said, “I know Wong Kar-wai’s style, so I have expected this.” South Korean actress Song Hye-kyo, who has been noticeably absent from the film’s promotional events, plays Ip Man’s wife has one line in the entire film, “Is it that cold in Foshan?”, while Julian Cheung only appears for a few seconds.

‘The Grandmaster’ marks Tony Leung’s seventh collaboration with Wong Kar-wai. Since 1990, Leung has appeared in Wong Kar-wai’s movies such as ‘Days of Being Wild’, ‘Ashes of Time’, ‘Chungking Express’, ‘Happy Together’, ‘In the Mood for Love’ and ‘2046′. Will there be an eighth time? Leung declined to comment, likely due to the laborious filming conditions of ‘The Grandmaster’ and physical exertion for his role.

‘The Grandmaster’ was the top film in mainland Chinese box offices, earning 162 million RMB in its opening weekend.

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‘The Grandmaster’ premieres in Hong Kong

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Sina:

Director Wong Kar Wai, and actors Tony Leung Chiu-wai, Zhang Ziyi, Chang Chen,  and Max Zhang Jun attended the Hong Kong Kong premiere of ‘The Grandmaster’. Critics compared ‘The Grandmaster’ of resembling Wong Kar-wai’s earlier film ‘In The Mood For Love’. Wong Kar-wai explained that he already had the idea for the film as early as 1989. “The preparation took years because I had to visit seven or eight provinces for martial art masters.” Zhang Ziyi did not conduct any interviews. Song Hye-kyo was in South Korea but sent a video. 

Tony Leung did not believe that Song Hye-kyo was upset that her role was reduced to just six minutes screen time. “Wong Kar-wai wouldn’t be at odds with anyone, I too had my scenes cut.” He described after three years in production the final half a month exhausted him thoroughly, as hard as the last 10 minutes of a marathon. As for Donnie Yen stating that he would watch ‘The Grandmaster’, Leung said, “I am not afraid of comparison, I have my own interpretation of the role.”

Ticket sales have been decent as many booked in advance, obviously Wong Kar-wai fans have been waiting for the film for a long time. Tony Leung’s martial art scenes have always been the focus. In the film he fought ferociously, completely relying on editing methods to assist and adjust. As for memorable scenes, they seemed to be Wong Kar-wai’s salute to his own classic films ‘In The Mood For Love’ and Fallen Angels’.

The film is about the life of Wing Chun master Ip Man, but the story actually could not leave Wong Kar-wai’s trademark “romance” out of the equation by depicting Tony Leung and Zhang Ziyi’s ambiguous relationship in particular detail. Their duel, spinning in the air and exchanging looks nose to nose was the most memorable; then through their letter exchanges and clothes buttoning to express their feelings, which were already full of poetic artistry.

The martial art fight scenes were the main focus of the movie for which Tony Leung studied Wing Chun. In the first half of the film, his six fight scenes were very convincing without any use of a stunt double. Of course he also relied on camera work and editing methods to assist and adjust, making the film even more intense and brilliant.

Zhang Ziyi and Max Zhang Jun’s fight at the train station looked the part and fought excitingly. Chang Chen fought decently as well but his role was drastically reduced in the film. He and Zhang Ziyi’s emotional scene was also deleted, weakening his character and made him less of an attraction than Zhang Jun.

Korean star Song Hye-Kyo as Mrs. Ip Man was pretty and sexy enough, but the role was too light. With only two lines she did not have much chance to perform, but she made up for it with her eyes and expressions; however she and Leung had intimate scenes. She wiped the unbuttoned Leung and showed off her legs as he bathed her feet.

The film also had many familiar scenes like reflections of Wong Kar-wai’s past work and salutes to them. Tony Leung and Zhang Ziyi locking eyes was like ‘Fallen Angel’s Leon Lai-ming and Michelle Reis’ love at first sight; Zhang Ziyi’s heart to heart with a hole in the wall reminded people of ‘In The Mood For Love’ where Tony Leung’s character whispered a secret into a hole in a tree. Leung washing Song Hye-kyo’s feet was just like his massage for Maggie Cheung Man-yuk in ‘In The Mood For Love’. As for Ip Man changing into a suit and applying gel to his hair reminded people of ‘In The Mood For Love’.

Wong Kar Wai as usual invited different guest stars, this time was no exception with Julian Cheung Chi-lam, Berg Ng Ting Yip, Lo Hoi Pang, Xiao Shenyang, action director Yuen Woo-Ping, Zhao Benshan, Tsui Kam Kong, Lo Mang. Tsui Kam Kong appeared in one shot and had no lines; Julian Cheung had no lines but portrayed a Chinese Opera star. Appearing in ‘Ip Man 2′, Lo Mang was the only actor who was able to take part in ‘The Grandmaster’. The challenging master Lo Mang and thug Xiao Shenyang added humor to balance the film’s tension. Veteran actor Lo Hoi Pang’s role was not large but his every move was dramatic.

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Critics compare ‘The Grandmaster’ to ‘Ashes Of Time’

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Mingpao:

Wong Kar-wai’s latest film ‘The Grandmaster’ will finally be released after taking 14 years to get to the screen from planning to production. A visibly relaxedTony Leung Chiu-wai attended a press conference in Beijing where he remarked that the three year production period made him thoroughly suffer, and he was somewhat in disbelief that it has already been completed. Zhang Ziyi described the production process as “getting on a pirate ship”, as she decided to never make another kung fu film. Film critics had more praises than criticism, some even described ‘The Grandmaster’ as along the same vein as ‘Ashes Of Time’. When Ip Man removes his changpao and puts on a suit, it’s eerily similar to the character Chow Mo-wan from ‘In the Mood for Love’.

‘The Grandmaster’ will be released in China on the 8th January. Wong Kar-wai led stars Tony Leung, Zhang Ziyi, Chang Chen and others to the Beijng press conference. Song Hye-Kyo who was rumoured to be upset at Wong Kar-wai’s schedule was notably absent.  After watching the film, some film critics wrote that aside from the perfect visuals, the poetic expression of the story was along the same vein as ‘Ashes Of Time’.
The 50-year old Tony Leung talked about the three-year long production. “Ultimately I didn’t start practicing kung fu until I was 47. I broke my arm twice, each time I needed several months to recover and wasted the fruits of my previous training. Wasn’t that very painful?” The earliest released rainy night fight scene was shocking visually, but behind the scenes Leung actually suffered. “After 30 overnight shoots, I told director Wong Kar-wai ‘I am done, I can’t take anymore’; the director said that ‘fine fine fine’, just like that. Finally we shot for another week, after which I thought I had pneumonia. I actually had bronchitis and lay in bed for five days. For half a year I worked at night for a long time. After the wrap I needed to adjust. I went to bed at midnight and got up at 4 or 5AM. I went running before the sun came out. (His wife) Carina Lau Ka-ling asked where I was going, during that period, my body was truly very tired.” 

Leung admitted that at first he was somewhat in disbelief that the film has wrapped. “On the day of the wrap I thought I would be especially excited, when the director said ‘Leung Chiu-wai’s final shot’. After the shoot I wasn’t too happy, maybe I felt that later I still had work like voice work and promotions. I was somewhat in disbelief still. In my experience, we could have had two wrap banquets and still go back to shoot. Three days later I could receive a call, ‘A scene could actually be even better, come back and fix it’, the possibility still exists.” He said that after returning to Hong Kong and settling for four or five days, he was much more relaxed. “Actually the pressure was tremendous all along, I was very tensed. Wong Kar-wai on the set was very relaxed, he was never in a hurry. We were the ones who were.” Donnie Yen’s ‘Ip Man’ will soon make its third installment. ‘The Grandmaster’ was often made fun of as taking too long to make. Leung said, “When you have fried chicken you still have to wait! The two movies are different. We shot for so long because we needed such a long time to be able to achieve it, so I don’t have anything to say.” He said that he needed to rest and would not make a movie for now.

Zhang Ziyi plays an Eight Diagram palm master in the film. She said that two nights ago after watching the film in its completed form for the first time she did not sleep all night. “Due to health and character consideration, I decided from now on I would not make another kung fu film. I am older, during training this time I realized I had many old wounds. My body was in a state of overload.” Zhang Ziyi joked that the production process was like “getting on a pirate ship”. “After three years of training and being with the character, I sensed the character’s troubled fate”.

Wong Kar-wai was often asked why it took so long. He said, “With such good actors supporting me, if I have the time I am willing to keep shooting. Although I was reluctant to part with it, everyone has to see it. ‘The Grandmaster’ displays the beauty of the Chinese people.”

Max Zhang Jun plays the character Ma San in the film and has an intense fight scene with Zhang Ziyi at a train station. Those who have seen the film have said that it’s the highlight of the movie. Zhang Jun said, “The pressure was enormous on this film, the fighting was real unlike before. Every school and every style were very clear cut.”

Wong Kar-wai was known for taking his time to be concise. Back then when he spent five years to complete ‘2046’ it was already classic, no one expected that ‘The Grandmaster’ would take 14 years from from planning to official release. At first Wong Kar-wai and Jeff Lau Chun-wai discussed ‘The Grandmaster’ story, in 2001 the script was officially registered, in 2003 the film announced its official production. For ten years most of the time only the buzz of the production could be heard. In 2008 Raymond Wong made ‘Ip Man’ with Donnie Yen, leading to a “twin incident”. 

‘Ip Man’ was released and became a hit, even following the momentum with a sequel. However Wong Kar-wai insisted on completing his research before beginning production and asked Tony Leung, Zhang Ziyi, Chang Chen to study martial arts. In July 2009, Leung  suffered a bone crack while sparring, during the shoot he even had a fracture. The film began shooting three years ago, with the rainy night fight scene in the trailer taking 30 nights, giving Leung bronchitis and made him sick for five days after the shoot. The film even had two wrap banquets, in the end Tony Leung, Zhang Ziyi and others were called back to continue additional shoots. Thus before the film is released, Leung still does not believe it truly has wrapped up production.

Playing Ip Man’s wife in the film is Korean star Song Hye-Kyo who is currently working on a Korean television series in Korea and thus was absent. However she still sent a video for the premiere.

In the video she apologized for being unable to attend the premiere and revealed that she was a fan of Director Wong. She said, “Spending three years to work on ‘The Grandmaster’ with Director Wong Kar-wai has been a very happy period of time for me. It includes working with excellent actors, I have learned a lot, gained valuable experience. I have always been the director’s fan. Although my character this time isn’t a key role, being able to participate in the director’s film is already a honour for me.”

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Criterion to release “In The Mood For Love” on Blu-ray in October

The Criterion Collection has announced the release of the Blu-ray version of Wong Kar-Wai’s In The Mood For Love (to be released on October 2).

The film will also be available on DVD.

Release Date: 2 October 2012
SRP: $39.95

Synopsis: Hong Kong, 1962: Chow Mo-wan (Tony Leung Chiu-wai) and Su Li-zhen (Maggie Cheung Man-yuk) move into neighboring apartments on the same day. Their encounters are formal and polite—until a discovery about their spouses sparks an intimate bond between them. At once delicately mannered and visually extravagant, Wong Kar-wai’s In the Mood for Love is a masterful evocation of romantic longing and fleeting moments. With its aching musical soundtrack and its exquisitely abstract cinematography by Christopher Doyle and Mark Lee Ping-bin, this film has been a major stylistic influence on the past decade of cinema, as well as a milestone in Wong’s redoubtable career.

Disc Features
-High-definition digital restoration, approved by cinematographer Mark Lee Ping-bin, with 5.1 surround DTS-HD Master Audio soundtrack on the Blu-ray edition
-@ “In the Mood for Love,” director Wong Kar-wai’s documentary on the making of the film
-Deleted scenes with director’s commentary
– Hua yang de nian hua (2000), a short film by Wong
-Archival interview with Wong and a “cinema lesson” given by the director at the 2001 Cannes Film Festival
-Toronto International Film Festival press conference from 2000, with stars Maggie Cheung Man-yuk and Tony Leung Chiu-wai
-Trailers and TV spots
-The music of In the Mood for Love, presented in an interactive essay, on the DVD edition
-Essay by film scholar Gina Marchetti illuminating the film’s unique setting on the DVD edition
-Photo gallery on the DVD edition
-Biographies of key cast and crew on the DVD edition
-Two new interviews with critic Tony Rayns, one about the film and the other about the soundtrack, on the Blu-ray edition
-A booklet featuring the Liu Yi-chang story that provided thematic inspiration for the film, an essay by film critic Li Cheuk-to, and a director’s statement (DVD edition); a booklet featuring an essay by novelist and film critic Steve Erickson and the Liu Yi-chang story that provided thematic inspiration for the film (Blu-ray edition)

http://www.criterion.com/films/198-in-the-mood-for-love

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Five Films by Wong Kar-Wai Named in Greatest Chinese Films Poll

The Taipei Golden Horse Film Festival has announced the results of its survey of the “100 Greatest Chinese-Language Films“. 122 industry professionals took part in the survey, including film scholars, festival programmers, film directors, actors and producers.
With 73 votes, Hou Hsiao-hsien’s ‘A City of Sadness‘ topped the poll. Edward Yang’s ‘A Brighter Summer Day’ came a close second.
Wong Kar-wai was Hong Kong’s most recognised director with five slots headed by ‘Days of Being Wild‘ in 4th place. The other films by Wong Kar-wai in the list are ‘In The Mood For Love‘ (joint 9th), ‘ChungKing Express‘ (21st), ‘Happy Together‘ (26th), and ‘Ashes Of Time‘ (joint 50th)

Top 10:
1 A City of Sadness; dir. Hou Hsiao-hsien
2 A Brighter Summer Day; dir. Edward Yang
3 A Time to Live and a Time to Die; dir. Hou Hsiao-hsien
4 Days of Being Wild; dir. Wong Kar-wai
5 Spring in a Small Town; dir. Fei Mu
6 Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon; dir. Ang Lee
7 Yi Yi: A One and a Two; dir. Edward Yang
8 Dust in the Wind; dir. Hou Hsiao-hsien
9= Dragon Inn; dir. King Hu
9= In the Mood for Love; dir. Wong Kar-wai

http://www.filmbiz.asia/news/horse-announces-greatest-chinese-films

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ITMFL on Empire’s 100 Best Films of World Cinema

British magazine Empire picked the 100 Best films not in the english language.
Wong Kar-wai’s “In The Mood For Love” was ranked at number 42.

The entry:

Why so great?
Wong Kar-wai’s achingly romantic account of star-cross’d lovers has a strong claim to be the best-looking film you’ll ever see. The ’60s costumes, neon cinematography from genius DoP Christopher Doyle and unspeakably gorgeous cast will catch the eyes while the tale of two neighbours, who discover that their spouses are cheating on them and fall in love with one another while trying to deal with the revelation, tugs the heartstrings. Melancholic, perhaps, but as inspirational as Yo-yo Ma’s bittersweet performance of the score. 
Hollywood remake?
Not quite, but the film has been riffed on in Lost in Translation, which lifted its famous whispered goodbye from a similar scene here. 

Prizes
No Oscar nomination, but a BAFTA nod and wins at the Césars and Cannes to soften the blow.
http://www.empireonline.com/features/100-greatest-world-cinema-films/default.asp?film=42

The top 10:
1. Seven Samurai
2. Amelie
3. Battleship Potemkin
4. Bicycle Thieves
5. Pan’s Labyrinth
6. Battle of Algiers
7. City of God
8. The Seventh Seal
9. The Wages of Fear
10. Spirited Away

The full list: http://www.empireonline.com/features/100-greatest-world-cinema-films/

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Madonna is a fan of Wong Kar Wai

In a conversation with director Gus Van Sant for Interview magazine, Madonna spoke about her admiration for Wong Kar-wai:

MADONNA: I look at movies like Wong Kar-Wai’s films, and they all have such a familylike feeling about them. He just keeps working with the same actors and art director and DP, and the stories don’t change that much. There seems to be this familiarity there that must be such a nice luxury.
VAN SANT: Wong Kar-Wai is a really great inspiration. He’s always referred to as the Jimi Hendrix of filmmaking.
MADONNA: What does that mean?
VAN SANT: It means that he’s so loose and familiar with his craft that he can sort of do anything.
MADONNA: I was actually watching In the Mood for Love [2000] again last night because I love the music. And I mean, how overused is slow motion in film? But, for some reason, he gets away with it. Every time the characters pass each other on the stairs, there’s that same piece of music. It’s so beautiful. He has these two married couples living next door to each other, and you never see the wife of one couple or the husband of the other, but you always hear them talking. And it’s not so much of a story, but you’re so sucked into it. It’s something to be envied. While the stories seem simple, you really end up feeling kind of devastated and moved and melancholic every time you watch one of his movies-well, I do, anyway.
VAN SANT: I do too.
MADONNA: But maybe there’s something wrong with me. Maybe I’m just a sucker.

VAN SANT: No, I think they’re very strong films.

http://www.interviewmagazine.com/music/madonna/4/