Review of The Grandmaster (2013) by Christopher Llewellyn R — 01 Feb 2014
What can I say, really? This film counts as one of my biggest disappointments of 2013. I am a big admirer of Wong's work, especially of "Chungking Express" and "In the Mood for Love," yet I hated almost every frame of this movie.
Normally a master visual stylist, Wong seems to have forgotten his craft here, resorting to cheap slow-motion tricks and backlit raindrops as substitutes for actual filmmaking. As work of art, it's a bust.
As a retelling of the story of Ip Man, it's narratively incoherent. And while Wong's elliptical style was so effective in a film like "In the Mood for Love," leaving the romantic longing of the main characters unspoken, here his choice of subject matter demands some kind of script; anything to distract from the pretentious cinematography (which, somehow, has earned Philippe Le Sourd an Oscar nomination).
To be avoided at all costs.
This review of The Grandmaster (2013) was written by Christopher Llewellyn R on 01 Feb 2014.
The Grandmaster has generally received positive reviews.
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