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Thursday, 09 May 2013 12:07

Ip Man

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"Ip Man" is a movie loosely based on the life of Grandmaster Ip Man, whose Wing Chung style of martial arts strongly formed Bruce Lee’s style.  Ip Man was Lee’s teacher although this first film of the trilogy doesn’t deal with Lee at all.
 
Loosely based is the watch phrase here.  The filmmakers take a lot of liberties with the storyline for dramatic impact. You really can’t go into this story thinking that you’re going to see a true events film.  
 
There’s also a heavily-mandated anti-Japanese theme since a good portion of the film takes place during the 2nd Sino-Japanese War when the Japanese army occupied China from 1937 to 1945.
 
If neither of these hesitations bother you then the film is truly a joy to watch.
 
Although Man is fully into adulthood, with a wife and young son when this movie opens he is much like a child in his attitude and lifestyle.  He’s independently wealth so he doesn’t actually work or need students to maintain his somewhat Laissez Faire existence.  As a recognized master, he’s content to live and let live and actively avoids fights.  But that doesn’t mean he won’t as a bully challenger from the North discovers when he forces Man to fight him to prove that Wing Chun isn’t a “girl’s martial art.”  His words, not mine.  Spoiler alert - Ip Man wins.
 
Actor Donnie Yen plays Ip Man with frosty aplomb.  He’s cooler than Chow Yun Fat on ice and, because actor Yen is a true and highly-skilled martial artist, the fight scenes are insanely good.
 
The fists and feet fly during breathless matches that seem real and amazing close to hurting the actors - in fact more than a few were knocked senseless during filming.  
 
These fights were choreographed by legend Sammo Hung, who was raised in the rigorous Peking Opera School like his classmate Jackie Chan.  Hung keeps the opera-flying wushu to a minimum on this 1st film and sticks to more ground and reality-based fights - or as real as any martial arts film aspires to be.
The movie itself really gets started when the city of Foshan is occupied by the Japanese.  Man and his family are forced out of their home and into poverty.  Although they 

struggle, Man is always generous of spirit and upbeat - at least in public.  Actor Yen manages to play this without any hint of melodrama - he’s matter-of-factly believable as the indomitable Man who is more concerned with others than himself.  But as the film progresses, Man becomes much less certain of himself and more introspective and, like many of us, has a crises of identity when he realizes that his life hasn’t amounted to much; that he’s not much good at anything except martial arts.
 
It’s only after Ip Man comes to realize that his life has been useless - as he puts it to his wife, that he takes a different path and tries to help others by directly teaching martial arts for defense to a group of factory workers who are beset by robbers.  These concepts of a changing self, and a growing sense of nationalism in Man form the thematic backbone of the main story of a person who did not aspire to greatness but had it thrust upon him.
 
"We wanted to do this movie because Ip Man was a man who inspired the world and society as a whole. He was a man who believed in certain morals and principles, and we want to use this movie as a platform to convey those values to the audience. For me, that was the most important part of making this movie."
 
That was a quote by the Director, Wilson Yip, on making Ip Man and there is at least as much of that sentiment as there are fight scenes.  Yip does a really good job on this film keeping it equally balanced in terms of quiet drama and over-the-top operatic dramatic moments.
 
Hiroyuki Ikeuchi (HERO YUKI) (IKAY UCHI) plays a great villain in a Japanese general who admires Man but ultimately wants to manipulate and control him.  First, he forces Man to fight in his own private tournaments; And then when Man won’t teach Japanese soldiers Wing Chun, in the best tradition of almost every martial arts film and western ever made, the good guy and the bad guy will meet in a fight to the death at the end of the film.  Spoiler alert - Ip Man wins this one too.  In fact, until the 2nd movie Ip Man never seems to be in danger of losing any fight, be it one on one, or ten on one.
 
Ip Man’s journey is a true martial arts journey.  When you’re a student, you are naive as to what you don’t know.  You think in lofty terms and don’t pay attention much to your internal world because you’re more concerned with learning how to be physically imposing.  Only after trials shape and humble you do you step onto that road to becoming a true master, recognizing that no matter how far you come, there is always a better you to be worked toward.
 
There are truly breathtaking moments in this film both martial and theatrical.  Although the storyline take huge leaps of time (and faith) this movie manages to completely engage and enthrall you.  It feels real.  The pain and the struggle both external and internal wrap you up and bring you much closer to the characters than most martial arts films.
 
In fact, it’s hard for me to call this a martial arts film at all.  It’s more of a well-paced drama with martial arts moments - great moments, but certainly not the only reason to see this film.
 
“Ip Man” spawned two other sequels neither of which really rose close to this film’s dizzying levels.
 
I’m giving “Ip Man” a Hutchi-Dan, eight out of ten.
 
 
 
 
 
The real Ip Man and his most famous student, Bruce Lee.
Read 2102 times Last modified on Wednesday, 05 August 2015 16:17
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Mark Sevi

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