Review of The Grandmaster (2013) by Kace C — 22 Dec 2013

It should be noted, the movie I watched was "The Grandmasters", not "The Grandmaster". (Yet another movie chopped and screwed by Harvey "Scissorhands" Weinstein and pushed onto the American mainstream who probably could give a fuck about Asian cinema to begin with .) So yeah, not reviewing the U.S. cut because I'm like, SO above that. I didn't really have any interest in seeing a work of art slaughtered (see: my being so much better than that) so I did a little digging online and torrented the Hong Kong edition because no way was I shelling $50 on Amazon to get the Blu-Ray. Just a preface because I honestly never pirate media willy-nilly; only when I virtually can't see something otherwise will I do it. I like to support art and artists. Can you hear me from atop this pedestal? Maybe if I lowered my chin a bit.

In other, more profane words, I'm a rude bitch, nigga, what are you into?

The review: I borderline loved Wong Kar Wai's "The Grandmaster" (let's just call it that.) It reminded me very much of "Once Upon a Time in the West" in terms of its sort of elliptical storytelling and the codes and ancient sayings both written and unwritten these characters seem to live by. And that, above all, is what Wong is interested in: tradition, and how traditions often collide (the movie boils life down into being both "vertical and horizontal") and the movement of bodies and varying styles of martial arts. The one term that came to mind watching "The Grandmaster" was "picturesque". All of it feels like a bunch of different scenes and pieces of a story mushed together, while Wong takes his time and paints and stages spectacular fights on luxuriously beautiful sets. (Philippe Le Sourd did the cinematography, and Wong got financing from the Chinese government to make this. That doesn't come as surprising or upsetting -- there isn't much controversial here or that I feel had to be watered down -- but it's worth noting because this movie looks absolutely GORGEOUS.) Ultimately "The Grandmaster" to me was just flat-out great, truly epic yet also with a lot o f moments of subtly and intimacy. The lack of symmetry to the thing might throw some off, but man, or should I say YIP Man (LOL), I totally dug the hell out of this. (83/100).

This is, again, regarding the Chinese cut. Because again, to quote a Tame Impala song this time, I got to be above "it".*.

*It = the critical mass.