The Grandmaster

Wong Kar-wai, the director of In the Mood for Love, spent more than a decade bringing this film about Ip Man, Bruce Lee's wing chun teacher, to the screen. Announced in 2008, it was held up partly by its lead actor's injuries. It opened the 63rd Berlin Film Festival in February 2013 and reached US cinemas on 30 August 2013 through The Weinstein Company. There are three cuts: 130 minutes in China, 123 in Berlin and a more linear 108 for the US.

Northern and southern schools

Where the Donnie Yen Ip Man series stacks up duels, The Grandmaster is about lineages. Ip Man's wing chun, the Gong family's baguazhang and its 64 Hands, the bajiquan of "the Razor" (Chang Chen): each style has its own footwork and logic. Wing chun students will spot the centreline guard, the elbow work and the short straight strikes; internal stylists will see Zhang Ziyi circle her opponent the way you walk the bagua circle.

Yuen Woo-ping on choreography

The fights were designed by Yuen Woo-ping (Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon, The Matrix), who also plays Chan Wah-shun, Ip Man's first teacher. Tony Leung had never trained before 46; he studied wing chun for several years and broke his arm twice, the second time on the first day of shooting. In the rain-soaked opening he fights Cung Le, a former Strikeforce MMA champion.

Reception

The film grossed about $64 million worldwide, Wong Kar-wai's biggest hit. It won a record 12 Hong Kong Film Awards in 2014, including Best Film, Best Actress for Zhang Ziyi and Best Action Choreography, and earned Oscar nominations for Philippe Le Sourd's cinematography and William Chang's costumes. Viewers after non-stop action may find it slow: the film lingers on slow motion, texture and loss.