Last we heard about Wong Kar-Wai’s eagerly anticipated next project, “The Grand Master.” fortune did not seem to be smiling upon the Hong-Kong filmmaker.
A biopic of Ip Man — the first Chinese man to teach the martial art of Wing Chun openly, training many major level students, including Bruce Lee — the picture was set to star Tony Leung Chiu-wai (“In The Mood For Love”), but the actor’s arm was broken in an on-set accident by a martial arts trainer during rehearsals.
Shooting was supposed to start in September, but that obviously didn’t happen and the mishap pushed back the schedule a few months. We were worried that this could effect funding or cause some kind of issues (actors backing out because of prior commitments, etc.) however, Twitch delivers good news finally and says “The Grand Master” is back on track and the film will start shooting in December.
Evidently the delays have caused some changes. It appears that Chinese film star Zhang Ziyi (“Memoirs of A Geisha,” “House of Flying Daggers,” “Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon” and several other famous Chinese films) has replaced Taiwanese actress Brigitte Lin (WKW’s “Ashes of Time,” “Chungking Express”) as Ip’s wife, and no offense to Lin, but it’s a big plus for the film as Ziyi is essentially a huge international star (it will reteam Ziyi and Chiu-wai who worked on Kar-Wai’s “2046”). Lin is apparently still “rumored,” but she was also supposed to play the wife as well…
According to a report from Beijing, filming will run from December 12 to April 18 of 2010 and that’s a fairly long time, but WKW is known for shooting slowly (read: methodical snail’s pace), without a script and finding the story on-set (a luxurious way of filmmaking that only Paul Greengrass or the Chinese seem to tolerate).
Gong Li (“2046,” “Eros” “Miami Vice”) was initially supposed to be one of the female leads, but it appears she’s no longer part of the project either. Other actors involved include Chang Chen (“Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon,” “Happy Together,” “Eros”) while Zhao Benshan is also rumored.
Tony Leung is a Wong Kar-Wai mainstay having appeared in almost every one of his films including memorable turns in “2046,” “Happy Together,” “Chungking Express” and the slow-burn romance masterpiece, “In The Mood For Love” for which he won the Cannes Film Festival Best Actor prize in 2000. It’s nice to know that he’s healed and this one is ready to go. Fingers crossed that there are no more injuries on set.
While this story was told once already in the 2008 film, “Ip Man” starring Donnie Yen, presumably Wong Kar-Wai’s version will be vastly different and as always, with an emphasis on mood, tone and atmosphere, though wuxia fans will surely be happy to see anything resembling the fight scenes of “Ashes of Time.”
it will reteam Ziyi and Chiu-wai who worked on Kar-Wai's "2046"
Kar-Wai?
That's like calling Steven Spielberg 'Steven'.
Brigitte Lin is/was a major international movie star that retired in 1994 hasn't acted in a real way since. Her return to the cinema, specifically the cinema of Wong Kar Wai, was a huge deal for the project and it is incorrect to call Ziyi's involvement over Lin "a big plus for the film"
Actually it is. While ppl like you and me know Lin hasn't been in a picture in forever. Ziyi is waaaaaaaaay more well known in the U.S. and internationally.
No question about it.