Peace & Blessings! It's been a hot minute since I have done a blog entry, so I want to take the time to thank anyone who has visited the site thus far and to also welcome any new readers. Hopefully everyone is having a great holiday season. I have some well deserved time off from work and my area got hit hard with over two feet of snow; so now is the perfect time to watch some movies and hit you with some reviews. Props to my wife and step daughter for blessing me with some new DVDs for the holiday!
My wife, probably from having cabin fever, decided to watch this week's movie with me. For that fact alone I had to pick a movie I saw before and one that I knew she could appreciate. I decided to go with one of the best movies to come out in this decade, Ip Man (pronounced Yip Man), starring Donnie Yen.
Ip Man is part one in a three movie series that is loosely based on the life of Bruce Lee's teacher.
The movie takes place in the 1930's in Foshan, a southern part of China that was known for it's martial art's schools. While many sifus opened up schools and competed for students, it was known in Foshan that Master Ip Man was the best martial artist in that area. Ip Man is a low key dude who is independently wealthy, so he spends his days training on his own or spending time with friends and family. Many sifus come to his house and ask to spar with him, and he would accept their request only in a closed door session, as not to bring embarrassment to their school.
Ip Man gets even more props in Foshan after he takes down a country bumpkin with crazy skills who comes popping shit from the North (played incredibly well by Fan Siu-Wong). Peep the scene here:
Master Ip truly opens up a calm, cool but calculated can of whoop ass!
After this scene, the movie takes a different turn when Japan invades China in 1937 (the start of the second Sino-Japanse War). Life is changed for everyone in Foshan, even Master Ip and his family. The Japanese military take over his house as headquarters for their men, and he is forced to relocate to a very modest accomodations. Master Ip takes a job working at a coal mine just to support his family.
The Japanese leader in Foshan, General Miura (played by Hiroyuki Ikeuchi), is a skilled karate master who sets up an arena where Chinese martial artists can test their skills against his military trainees. The Chinese get a small bag of rice for each Japanese opponent they defeat. When one of his good friends goes missing after accepting an invite to the arena, Master Ip goes there to investigate. He is enraged when he sees a Japanese solider shoot and kill a fellow Foshan master after he wins a bout against three Japanese.
Ip Man demands a match against 10 men, which makes for one of the best scenes of the whole film. Peep it:
Master Ip's abilities spark the interest of General Miura, who wants to learn more about his skill and to see him fight again.
General Miura eventually finds Master Ip and says he will spare his life if he teaches Chinese martial arts to the Japanese soldiers. Master Ip refuses, and instead challenges the general to a fight. The general accepts the challenge, and the fight is held in public in Foshan's Square.
As the crowd cheers the defeat of the Japanese general, Master Ip is comforted by the sight of his wife and son in the crowd. While the crowd continues to celebrate the Japanese deputy decides to take matters into his own hands and shoots Master Ip. All hell breaks loose in the crowd, and Master Ip and his family are rescued amidst the chaotic aftermath. He survives the gun shot wound and is relocated to Hong Kong with his family. There he will soon open up a Wing Chun school (the focus of the sequel), and his long list of students will include Bruce Lee.
I give Ip Man the classic rating of 5 Fists. Even though it was semi-biographical, it was still great to do the knowledge about the man that taught Bruce Lee. The story line was tight, the fight scenese were top notch (choreographed by the legendary Sammo Hung), even the score was dope! And Donnie Yen has the midas touch, because any movie he touches turns to cinematic gold!
I also conside this a classic because my wife is not a fan of the martial arts genre at all (more of a rom-com type of woman). She usually does not have the patience to watch a movie in Chinese with English subtitles. She was able to successfully watch, follow and thoroughly enjoy Ip Man. As a show of thanks I am making a promise to watch the Sandra Bullock movie of her choice.
Peace & Blessing for now,
The Sage
Be sure to follow me on Twitter @KungFuTheater or hit me with an e-mail SaturdayMorningKungFu@Gmail.com
Good stuff. Im digging his laid back style.
ReplyDeleteThanks Mr. Parry.....cat was nice with his...and I loved his laid back whoop your ass style as well.....
ReplyDeleteAnother solid review. I almost watched this on Netflix the other day, but decided not to. Now I'ma have to go back and peep it; looks dope. I think there's a part two that came out this year. Good luck with the Sandra Bullock movie haha. Peace to Sammo Hung.
ReplyDeletePeace Sage,
ReplyDeleteI too watched an IP movie with my wife and it held her attention as well, there is something special about IP. I like his super quick papapapa hand jabs to the throat. Thanks for your Kung Fu theatre. Stay true to your heart!
Sensei
I can see Ip Man being a flick a lady that isn't into kung fu usually could like. Ip Man as a character is so easy to root for. He loves his wife and loves his kid and is a humble guy, teaches a whole factory of women how to defend themselves, and isn't a macho idiot. Congrats!
ReplyDelete@Soundsurgeon---exactly..she liked his humbleness...she just didn't understand why he didn't get a job at the factory rather than busting his ass with that coal. She made it through even in Chinese! I give her major props for that!
ReplyDelete@New Brunswick...yeah them quick jabs are a killer...I am going to teach my class that next....after they master Rainbow Chop
ReplyDeleteSean...there is a part II (good but not as good as the firt) and a part III that actually is a prequel to the the first two...I reviewed it a few months ago...and I'm not looking forward to the rom com pick of the week...haha
ReplyDeleteawesome ,entertaining and a actual story line you can follow.sequals are equally enjoyable to watch, how awesome is his flurry punches, this is the reason i started watching kung fu movies again, pure gem
ReplyDeleteRomComs are great. Maybe I will start a RomCom blog just like this one.
ReplyDeleteOn the real, great review, I really want to catch this flick now.
Jay you would be good at starting a blog on whimsy and wonderment
ReplyDelete@dan--thanks for the comment
No wonder Ip Chun (Ip Man's son, consultant to this movie) was so pleased-- from the twinkle in his eyes to the lifting of his feet, Donnie Yen inhabits this movie like he is possessed by Ip Man. And as Ip Man himself explains early in the movie: "the key is the person."
ReplyDeleteIn short, "Ip Man" is quite a good ("mainstream") movie-- but a great martial arts/Kung Fu (not "action", as Donnie Yen points out during interviews) movie. And some telling numbers explain why:
There are around 12 fights or so (depending on how you count them) evenly spaced throughout the film, with Donnie Yen in almost half of them-- with 3 or so weapon fights (not counting guns) and 5 or so group fights (anything with more than 2 people)-- which is why this is a martial arts movie, and not an "action" movie (no explosions, chases, shoot-outs, etc.). The shortest fight takes about 10 seconds and his longest runs around 2 minutes-- which gels with Donnie Yen's belief that real people fight to win and don't "pose, talk, fight, run, and... pose, talk, fight, run and...". Together with the miscellaneous violence (guns, etc.), the audience is virtually given an "adrenaline shot" every 5 minutes or so to give audiences something to laugh, cry or even cheer about.
Of course, it also inspired in me a new-found respect for Wing Chun (Ip Man's school of martial arts)-- as well as action director Sammo Hung's "tight" choreography and camera-work (in China/HK, action directors control the camera as well as direct the actors). The close-to-mid range shots make it easier to "catch" the stunt doubles... but just like everything else in the movie-- blink and you'll miss it!
For much like Wing Chun, everything in this movie get to the point quickly-- so that at over 100 minutes, the movie feels much too short.... But thank you, Wilson Yip (the director), for respecting the audience and not belaboring the "message"-- for a movie that is basically a war/ nationalist melodrama, it manages to unfold as elegantly as Ip Man's character (& Donnie Yen's acting).
But for those who care about the "downside": this movie is only loosely "based on" Ip Man's life-- in that the earlier parts is a dramatization of various accounts, the middle section is highly exaggerated (1-to-1 vs many-to-1 sparring), and the end is completely fictional (read: lead to an end-fight). And as a "World War II side-story" about a simple people in a small place (Foshan, China), there are only a few lines of text and transitional scenes depicting the Japanese invasion/occupation of Foshan (the director didn't have the budget to show how Foshan lost 3/4 of its population)-- though it manages to be quite effective, especially for those already familiar with the history. But those craving more creativity, complexity or completeness in this movie will be disappointed-- especially by the rather haphazard way the movie "wraps up" Ip Man's life at the end (when it wasn't certain whether/how a sequel would be made).
Whatever the quibble, "Ip Man" heralds a break-though in realism for "grounded" martial arts/ Wushu movies; the way "Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon" heralded a break-through in surrealism for "floating" martial arts/Wuxia movies. It is clearly made for fans of Wing Chun and Kung Fu Movies-- and it makes no apologies for that (thank goodness for no "foreign" investors-- though it means that this movie is unlikely to get foreign distribution).