‘The Grandmaster’ to open Berlin International Film Festival; plus new posters

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Berlinale press release:

The international premiere of The Grandmaster by Chinese director and president of this year’s jury, WONG Kar Wai, will open the 63rd Berlin International Film Festival.

The Grandmaster is an epic martial arts drama set against the tumultuous backdrop of 1930’s China and inspired by the life and times of the legendary IP Man (Tony LEUNG Chiu Wai), mentor to Bruce LEE. The plot encompasses themes of war, family, revenge, desire, love, and memory. The all-star cast headed by Tony LEUNG Chiu Wai (Days of Being Wild – Berlinale Forum 1991, Chungking Express, Happy Together, In The Mood for Love, 2046, all directed by WONG Kar Wai), also includes Ziyi ZHANG (Crouching Tiger and Hidden Dragon, D: Ang Lee), who was a guest at the 2009 Berlinale Competition with Forever Enthralled (D: CHEN Kaige), CHANG Chen (Crouching Tiger and Hidden Dragon; Eros, D: WONG Kar Wai), ZHAO Benshan (Happy Times, D: ZHANG Yimou), XIAO Shengyang (A Woman, a Gun and a Noodle Shop, D: ZHANG Yimou – Berlinale Competition 2010) and SONG Hye Kyo (A Reason to Live, D: LEE Jeong-hyang), as well as hundreds of Asia’s top martial artists.

“It is a special honour for us to open the 2013 Berlinale with the presentation of the newest film by this year’s jury president, WONG Kar Wai. With The Grandmaster, Kar Wai has added a new and exciting facet to his body of works, and created an artful, visually powerful genre film,” says festival director Dieter Kosslick.

Nearly three years of film production and almost a decade of preparation went into the making of The Grandmaster for its director WONG Kar Wai, who began exploring the idea for the film in 1996.

“I am truly very honoured by Dieter and his invitation for my new film The Grandmaster to participate in the 63rd Berlinale and to open the festival. This is a dream project for me that I had been developing for many years. I am very happy to be able to present it in Berlin. I was already greatly looking forward to my returning to Berlin to serve as the President of the International Jury, so seeing The Grandmaster presented there will make it all the more special for me,” says WONG Kar Wai.

With his signature style-defining mood, atmosphere and reality, director WONG Kar Wai delves into the eternal question in martial arts of whether the victor is more than merely the “last man standing”, and brings the genre to new heights.

The Grandmaster is a Block 2 Pictures and Sil-Metropole Organisation presentation of a Jet Tone Films and Sil-Metropole Organisation production. It is written and directed by WONG Kar Wai.

The Grandmaster will be presented as the opening film in the official selection, but screening out of competition.

The world premiere of The Grandmaster will be celebrated on January 8, 2013 in China, and the film will open at cinemas in numerous countries including Germany in spring 2013. The film’s distributor in Germany will be Wild Bunch.

Tony Leung breaks a wooden board in new ‘Grandmasters’ featurette

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TtQqJVBYRCE]

Sina:

Earlier in the first part of ‘The Road To The Grandmasters’ fans saw how hard the actors trained, some online even praised Tony Leung for being willing to drop his big star persona and learn martial arts from the start despite being known primarily for his acting skills. Yesterday the second part of ‘The Road To The Grandmasters’ was released online. Viewers were able to see Tony Leung’s training with Wing Chun master Ip Man’s final disciple Mr. Leung Siu Hung. Over three years of tough training, Leung managed to gain a solid martial art structure and powerful attacks. He was able to cleanly break through a wooden board several inches thick. His improvement was shocking. Master Leung said, “(Tony) Leung Chiu-wai’s advantage is that he has no burden or bad habits from any other kung fu, gradually he is able to absorb the spirit of Wing Chun.” Director Wong Kar-wai also said, “I hope that Tony Leung’s portrayal of Mr. Ip is a mix of Ip Man and Bruce Lee. I have to break everything about him and shape a person anew.”

http://ent.sina.com.cn/m/c/2012-12-06/08153804966.shtml

‘The Grandmasters’ turns Chang Chen into a master

Sina:

The new martial arts film from Wong Kar-wai, ‘The Grandmasters’, will not open until early next year in China. Actor Chang Chen trained hard in kung fu for this film. Earlier he participated in the national Bajiquan contest in Changchun and won a top prize. He went from studying kung fu for a movie to truly winning a martial arts award.

For half a year before filming began in ‘The Grandmasters’ in 2009, Chang Chen visited Master Wang Shiquan and he was asked whether he truly wanted to study or only make kung fu poses for the movie. Chang Chen said that he truly wanted to train and began his journey of studying Bajiquan for three years. In a small Beijing forest everyday for three hours in the morning and three hours in the evening he trained in all types of weather. He had to stretch and he was in so much pain that he was in tears. Chang Chen joked that he held back in front of Tony Leung and did not show him his best. Earlier Chang Chen participated in the national Bajiquan contest in Changchun under the order his master. He wanted the experience and participated. He practiced his routine almost 10,000 times. The film’s martial arts choreographer Yuen Woo-ping not being impressed with his kung fu before, but during this shoot he would discuss and accept his opinions.

http://ent.sina.com.cn/m/c/2012-12-05/17233804663.shtml

‘The Grandmasters’ delayed until 2013; new character posters released

 

 Sina:

Directed by Wong Kar-wai, featuring an all-star ensemble of Tony Leung Chiu-wai, Zhang Ziyi, Chang Chen, Zhao Benshan, Xiao Shenyang and Song Hye-kyo, the film ‘The Grandmasters’ released four new posters today. The posters show four of the lead actors ‘smashing’ through waves. Also revealed on the posters was the new release date of the movie, which is now set for January 8, 2013.

The four new posters depict Tony Leung fighting in Wing Chun style, Zhang Ziyi fighting in baguazhang style (eight trigram palm), Chang Chen using bajiquan (eight extremities fist), and Zhao Benshan using xingyiquan (shape boxing). All four actors display their clans’ special moves as they attempt to split the waves. Water appears to splash everywhere and the chill in the air is evident. The coldness also seems to seep into their faces making them appear domineering. As compared to previous years, the lineup for this year’s lunar holiday films appear to be more competitive. Due to the fierce competition predicted at the box office, ‘The Grandmasters’ has readjusted their release date to January 8, 2013 (prior to the lunar new year).

Wong Kar Wai began filming his first movie ‘As Tears Go By’ in 1988. Next year will be his 25th year as a feature film director. ‘The Grandmasters’ will be his 10th release (excluding Eros, which was a joint project with Michelangelo Antonioni and Steven Soderbergh). However, ‘The Grandmasters’ is also the film he has spent the most time preparing for. Regarding the decision to release the movie the towards end of the (Western) New Year holiday, the spokesperson from the distribution company Sil-Metropole Organisation, says, “This movie incorporates many years of hard work from director Wong and all of his cast. From that point of view, we would like to give him more space to bring his entire vision to fruition. This is the kind of respect we’d like to give to these directors.”

 http://ent.sina.com.cn/m/c/2012-11-27/08583797336.shtml