Ip Man best Martial Arts Movie in a Long Time

Ip Man -an Instant Martial Arts Classic
by Paul Grant (follower of Basho)
(Ip Man trailer at bottom of post)

Ip Man (the title Ip Man is pronounced as “Eep-Man”, not “I-P Man”) is a 2008 Hong Kong martial arts biopic that is based on the life of Ip Man,a translation from Chinese ideograms that also might have been translated Yè Wèn or Wing Chun.)

Ip Man is perhaps best known as the celebrated martial arts master of Bruce Lee, though his meeting with Lee happens long after the movie's time frame.

He was also the first to teach the Chinese martial art of Wing Chun ( a form of Kung Fu, a close combat form openly.)

The movie (in Subtitles) combines excellent directing, excellent acting, great fight scenes (though not as `fantastical' as many of the current martial ats movies have shown) history and drama and some philosophical ideas.

This movie just shows apart of Ip Man's life in the city of Foshan between the 1930s to 1940s during the Second Sino-Japanese War
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The movie begins when Ip Man is a young man, fairly successful, married and with a young boy. He practices his Kung Fu privately, though sometimes spares with friends. Through a series of events (no spoiler) his reputation grows. Many want him to teach his style of fighting but he refuses.

Then the Second Sino-Japanese War takes place (July 7, 1937 to September 9, 1945) This was the largest Asian war in the twentieth century. After the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor, the Second Sino-Japanese War merged into the greater conflict of World War II as a major front in the Pacific Theatre.

The city of Foshan was mostly destroyed. Ip's home was confiscated. There was great poverty. Ip worked digging coal. By chance one of the Japanese generals overseeing the area was a fan of Kung Fu and set up matches with Chinese willing to fight Japanese practitioners. Ip comes to the forefront in an amazing fight against ten men. The Japanese General wants Ip to train his men with his style of Kung Fu, but Ip refuses. He challenges the general to a duel knowing the consequences are dire whether he wins or looses, but allowing time for his wife and child to escape.

To this date there have been neither movies nor publications about Ip Man. Because of the success of this film a sequel is coming out.

Donnie Yen

"During an exclusive interview with the American-born actor in Hong Kong recently, Yen explained that he spent more time researching and preparing for the role than any other movie he has ever done, as the movie is not only a biography about a well-known kung fu master who not only influenced Bruce Lee, but is also a master of the most practiced martial arts style all over the world.
“To portray a character like this, any actor must be fully prepared to the most accurate and truest to both the historical facts and the characteristics of the character,” Yen said. “I spent a great deal of time researching and preparing for this role, far more than any other role I have ever done ... no, far more than every role combined!”

According to Yen, Ip Man is a character that is very different from the usual stereotypical kung fu master one usually sees in the movies.
“Ip Man was a very family-oriented man. He was also very subtle, and never forced his philosophy or style on others. His personality was like that of your next-door neighbour – very down to earth and humble, and I think this sort of personality will appeal to audiences of all ages and gender.
“You can relate to a person like this because he is a very soft spoken, down to earth and a nice guy. It just happens that he is a kung fu master as well!” he said with a laugh.
While preparing for the role, Yen not only did as much research on the legend as he could, he also tried to be Ip Man as well.
“I wasn’t just acting the role – I actually lived it. I was totally in that world to come out as accurate as possible. My mind and spirit was all about playing Ip.
“For example, I would wear his clothes all around the hotel, drink tea the way he used to, and even changed the way I walked and talked,” he said. “I usually do things and talk very quickly, but Ip is a lot more laid-back. So I adjusted my tempo, and slowed everything down.”

Physically, Yen also had to go on a special regime just so he could look like the master.
“For a while, I was pretty muscular so I had to go on a diet to slim down. I was eating one meal a day, sometimes just drinking a glass of water, just to make sure that physically, I would look exactly like Ip, who is very scholarly and slim.
“I would also discuss every single detail of the role with the director to make sure we got it right. Sometimes we even called Ip Chun to ask him if his father would do something like that.”
At the end of the day, Yen’s ultimate goal for the movie is not to showcase the Wing Chun fighting style, but to highlight the positive moral values that Ip Man stood for.
http://www.star-ecentral.com/news/story.asp?file=/2008/12/16/movies/2795492&sec=movies

Directed by famed art-house director Wong Kar-wai.

His first major international recognition was at the 1997 Cannes Film Festival where he won the Best Director prize for Happy Together (1997). A film that "uses gorgeous, saturated images set to an eclectic soundtrack of tango by Argentinian maestro Astor Piazolla, Brazilian singer Caetano Veloso and Frank Zappa instrumentals to chronicle the stormy affair of a gay couple living as expatriates in Buenos Aires."^[2]
Despite his background as a scriptwriter, one of Wong's trademarks as a director is that he works largely through improvisation and experimentation involving the actors and crew rather than adhering to a fixed screenplay. This has been a frequent source of trouble for his actors, his financial backers and many other people connected with his films, including sometimes himself.
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wong_Kar-wai)
He also directed, "Lady from Shanghai," starring Nicole Kidman.

His English-language debut was, "My Blueberry Nights," which stars Jude Law, Natalie Portman, Rachel Weisz and Norah Jones.




You can stream the entire movie now to your PC, Mac, most tablets and most Smart Phones for only $2.99 through Amazon's Instant Streaming Videos. Click Here