Martin Scorsese to present Wong Kar-wai’s ‘The Grandmaster’

mondo

Deadline:

Martin Scorsese is lending his support to the upcoming Weinstein Company release of ‘The Grandmaster‘, the film directed by Wong Kar-wai. Scorsese will lend his name in presentation of the kung fu film, and above the line it will read Martin Scorsese Presents The Grandmaster when TWC releases the film theatrically in New York, Los Angeles and Toronto on August 23 and nationwide on August 30. Wong has directed such films as Chungking Express, 2046 and My Blueberry Nights, and The Grandmaster stars Tony Leung, Ziyi Zhang, and Chang Chen and is executive produced by Annapurna Pictures’ Megan Ellison. The film opened the Berlin Film Festival earlier this year. “Wong Kar Wai has turned martial arts into a modern dance,” Scorsese said.

“Every movement hit with precision, every emotion drenched with underlying honor. The Grandmaster, arranged with both elegance and fury, left me mesmerized.” Said Wong: “Marty has always been a great inspiration. We are so thankful for his support of the film.”

TWC Co-Chairman Harvey Weinstein said: “Marty Scorsese’s reaction to The Grandmaster couldn’t have been more enthusiastic. When Marty champions a film, nothing is better; it is the ultimate seal of approval. I look forward to audiences seeing this wildly entertaining and artistic film.”

The poster at the head of this post was designed by Vania Zouravliov and will be released by Mondo.

30-Minute Interview with Wong Kar-wai and a discussion with ‘Mad Men’ creator Matthew Weiner

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZMDOMr9m6pg]

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

The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences honoured Wong Kar Wai‘s contribution to film with a special screening of ‘The Grandmaster‘ at 7:30PM on July 22nd. Aside from the chair and the board members, the film’s lead actress Zhang Ziyi also made an appearance and surprised Wong Kar-wai.

The special screening was hosted by ‘Mad Men‘ creator Matthew Weiner who is an admirer of  Wong Kar-wai’s films and thus volunteered to host.

tribute 1 tribute 2 tribute 3

New US trailer for ‘The Grandmaster’

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_JsmRHAop2o]

Official US website: http://thegrandmasterfilm.com/

‘The Grandmaster’ will have its US premiere at Comic-Con on Saturday July 20th: http://www.deadline.com/2013/07/hot-trailer-the-grandmaster/

A season of Wong Kar-wai‘s films will be shown at the Museum of the Moving Image (Queens, New York) between July 12th and August 24th. The Grandmaster’ premieres in New York on August 10th with Wong Kar-wai himself in attendance: http://www.movingimage.us/films/2013/07/12/detail/wong-kar-wai-2/

Wong Kar-wai receives France’s highest cultural honour

    wkw honour 1

Sohu:

Acclaimed director Wong Kar-Wai was saluted with France’s highest cultural honour on Sunday in celebration of his lengthy career. Having already received the National Order of the Legion of Honour, he was awarded the Ordre des Arts et des Lettres (Commander of France’s Order of Arts and Letters). Yesterday he accepted the honour with his wife from the French Foreign Affairs minister Laurent Fabius. He was so happy that he kissed his wife on the cheek twice. Actors Tony Leung Chiu-wai, Chang Chen and other company employees congratulated him.

Laurent Fabius said that Wong Kar-wai has brought Hong Kong culture to France. His influence has been recognized and planted in the hearts of the French people. Wong Kar-wai said, “I am very happy, this is a type of recognition and support for my team and Hong Kong film. My wife will take care of the honour, I am used to handing over everything to my wife.” He had no intention of emmigrating to France due to the high tax rate.

Wong Kar-wai disagreed that the French audience preferred his films. Most markets had Hollywood films had their mainstream, only France had room for different films. He said, “Chinese films perform poorly overseas so just focusing on one market is impossible. Film is a very lively culture.” he would not make French style films due to the honour. If he deliberately do something for others it would be meaningless. Speaking of Tony Leung taking a year off after completing “The Grandmaster”, Wong Kar-wai joked, “I just needed to take 9 months off. The film will be released in France, Germany, Russia, Japan, Korea and the U.S. I will take Tony Leung and Zhang Ziyi to promote the film.”

Tony Leung said that recently he has been busy with computer lessons. He has already made plans with Wong Kar-wai to celebrate with a few drinks at night. “His movies are very unique and promote Hong Kong culture of the 50s and the 60s. Their productions are very intricate as well. Some feels that he spends a lot of time and money, but spending such much effort is truly not easy.”

wkw honour 2

wkw honour 3

 

wkw tony leung chang chen honour

tony honour

tony honour 2

US trailer for “The Grandmaster”

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nLCCG4oC8bA]

The new US trailer for Wong Kar-wai’sThe Grandmaster” has finally been released, complete with annoying voiceover.

The film will finally be released in America on August 23.

French featurettes for “The Grandmaster”

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l7zBxPjbDUU]

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DfL2GxE5P34]

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZcRIRis1kYE]

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

tony leung ip man gif

 
The 130-minute version of “The Grandmaster” will be released on DVD and Blu-ray in China on April 23rd.
 
Meanwhile, The Weinstein Company has revealed that the international version of “The Grandmaster” (now retitled as “Grandmasters“) will be in US cinemas on August 23rd.

‘The Grandmaster’s missing scenes appear in the International Version

berlinale 8

Sina:

‘The Grandmaster’ was the opening film of the 63rd Berlin Film Festival. Tony Leung Chiu-wai and Zhang Ziyi walked the red carpet hand in hand as they were welcomed with cheers and applause. Although Leung frequently attended international film festivals, this was his first time at the Berlin Film Festival. At the opening ceremony, the host compared Wong Kar-wai’s movies to women who made people fall for them unknowingly. She even jokingly asked Wong Kar Wai, “If ‘The Grandmaster’ is a woman too, would you get intimate with her or vanish with her?” Wong Kar-wai humorously said, “Both feel pretty exciting.”

The film premiered in Berlin and received a 10 minute applause after the show. Wong Kar-wai cut a special “Berlin version” with 20 differences from the China and Hong Kong version. The film was about 10 minutes shorter. Because some foreign media did not understand the historical backdrop, some reviews said that it “cannot surpass In The Mood For Love“.

The Berlin Film Festival version of ‘The Grandmaster’ mainly added three important scenes and some subtitles that explained the historical background. Some of the subplots with an unclear relationship to the main plot were removed or replaced. The most notable addition that was not in the China and Hong Kong version was how Chang Chen‘s Yi Xiantian and Zhang Ziyi’s Gong Er met and their relationship. After Gong Er saved Yi Xiantian on the train, they later ran into each other at a Hong Kong restaurant named Old Muslim but did not acknowledge each other. Their reunion gave Yi Xiantian the motivation to stay in Hong Kong, which was easier to comprehend for the audience.

Another addition was the rainy night fight scene with Ip Man and Yi Xiantian. The story became more intense and made people’s blood boiled. This scene caught Gong Yutian’s eyes. He praised Ip Man’s kung fu abilities and after asking others he learned that the fighter was the Invincible in Foshan Ip Man. Other addition scenes included a young Bruce Lee staring at Ip Man from the school, Ip Man teaching Bruce Lee martial arts and Ip man’s ferocious fight with Cung Le. Ip Man’s challenge in Hong Kong to Ding Lianshan (Zhao Benshan) was removed.

Tony Leung did not feel that his scenes were removed, the most important was for the audience to accept the pace of the story. “I don’t mind the changes in the different versions, the most important is for the story to make sense.” Although Wong Kar Wai earlier was busy with ‘The Grandmaster‘s promotion, in a short month he was able to make even better changes. The mastery of his craft truly left people speechless.

 berlinale 9

berlinale 10

berlinale 11

berlinale 12

berlinale 13