The Grandmaster (Wong Kar-wai, 2013)

[Jeff]

Variety has reviewed the film:

Venturing into fresh creative terrain without relinquishing his familiar themes and stylistic flourishes, Hong Kong auteur Wong Kar Wai exceeds expectations with "The Grandmaster," fashioning a 1930s action saga into a refined piece of commercial filmmaking. Boasting one of the most propulsive yet ethereal realizations of authentic martial arts onscreen, as well as a merging of physicality and philosophy not attained in Chinese cinema since King Hu's masterpieces, the hotly anticipated pic is sure to win new converts from the genre camp. Wong's Eurocentric arthouse disciples, however, may not be completely in tune with the film's more traditional storytelling and occasionally long-winded technical exposition.

[manicsounds]

Twitchfilm review

[ianungstad]

Apparently the cut of the film that will open the Berlin film festival next week is different than what was released in China in January. Wong Kar Wai has continued to edit the film and the new cut is 10 minutes shorter. I wouldn't be surprised if he continued to work on the film after Berlin.

[zedz]

Given his past form, I'd be surprised if he didn't!

[The Fanciful Norwegian]

Hong Kong DVD/BD out April 23rd

Here's hoping the "1.78:1" notation on the DVD is an error (the film is gorgeously and unambiguously 2.39:1). This will probably be the only release of the longer cut, at least with English subtitles. I haven't seen the "Western" cut yet, but from what I've read of it, almost every change it makes is a bad one.

[zedz]

Thanks for the tip on this!

[Flanell]

The BD says 2.35:1.

[The Fanciful Norwegian]

That's the main reason I'm assuming an error. The alternative is that Mei Ah thinks people who haven't upgraded to Blu are rustic savages who insist that the picture fill their screen, which is possible but not likely.

[Flanell]

Yeah, you're probably right about the dvd. Must be an error. Have you seen the longer cut? Any thoughts on how it compares to other Wong Kar-Wai films? I have a friend who saw it in Bangkok (eng subtitled), don't know which cut it was though. He seemed to enjoy it but liked the other recent Ip Man movies more (Ip Man 2008/Ip man 2, 2010).

[AK]

Hong Kong DVD/BD out April 23rd

Here's hoping the "1.78:1" notation on the DVD is an error (the film is gorgeously and unambiguously 2.39:1). This will probably be the only release of the longer cut, at least with English subtitles. I haven't seen the "Western" cut yet, but from what I've read of it, almost every change it makes is a bad one.

Thank you so much for this! Since it's likely the film won't hit theaters here in long time - and when it does, it'll certainly be a very limited release - this news is as good as it gets. I'll definitely get the Blu-ray. To have the 130 minutes long cut makes the deal even sweeter.

[manicsounds]

Is it shortet because of Weinstein or because Wong tweaked it even more?

[The Fanciful Norwegian]

There's two cuts in circulation, long and short. The long one opened in China/HK/Taiwan and some other Asian countries, the short one has played at festivals and will open in France next week. It'll also be the one that comes out in the English-speaking world unless the Weinsteins decide to cut it further. I'm a little curious to see which one Japan and Korea will get.

[Finch]

@manicsounds: Wong himself shortened the Western cut to make it more accessible for round eyes consumption.

[AK]

Ordered mine from the site. Any experience about the delivery times from Hong Kong to Europe? Courier, not Air Mail.

Anyone know how long the cut premiering in France is? I would also like to know whether there have been any reliable statements made by anyone involved in the production concerning Wong's reasons to cut the film. (And I'm not calling Finch unreliable here by any means!)

Edit: Sorry, I didn't catch the message above that stated the Berlin cut is 10 mins shorter and that it's the one that's opening in France.

[joshua]

So is this Blu-ray/DVD release oop? Yesasia says so. DDDHouse has the Steel-book as oop but supposedly the DVD and Blu are still available. I've ordered one from DDDHouse but I'm guessing the order will be cancelled.

[isakborg]

AK -

Grandmasters arrived here today. Took 8 days from ship date to arrival here in New Jersey, USA, from buyoyo.com, by courier.

[The Fanciful Norwegian]

Running time for the disc is 2h 04mn 41s.

I don't know if I'm supposed to talk about this, but since the BD isn't in my hands yet...the BD-rip that's already going around is 2:10:07, which matches the theatrical runtime. Are you referring here to the DVD?

[AK]

So is this Blu-ray/DVD release oop? Yesasia says so. DDDHouse has the Steel-book as oop but supposedly the DVD and Blu are still available. I've ordered one from DDDHouse but I'm guessing the order will be cancelled.

You mean you managed to order the SteelBook? Buyoyo.com definitely has the standard Blu-ray in stock, but the SteelBook has been out of stock since I found out about the release a few weeks ago.

AK -

Grandmasters arrived here today. Took 8 days from ship date to arrival here in New Jersey, USA, from buyoyo.com, by courier.

Nice! Have you had time to watch it yet? They shipped mine from Hong Kong on Tuesday by courier (DHL), and it's in Leipzig, Germany, now.

Edit: Just checked DHL and the package has already arrived in Finland! If they won't be able to deliver it to me today, I should expect tomorrow!

Edit 2: Received my Blu today. Talk about fast delivery: two days from Hong Kong to Finland via DHL. I know what I'll be watching tonight!

[The Fanciful Norwegian]

The subs in your screenshots are actually Simplified Chinese, which indicates a mainland source. If it's like the other HDTV rips going around, all the Cantonese dialogue is dubbed into Mandarin (the usual practice for Hong Kong films in the mainland). Maybe somebody muxed in the original audio from somewhere.

You mean you managed to order the SteelBook? Buyoyo.com definitely has the standard Blu-ray in stock, but the SteelBook has been out of stock since I found out about the release a few weeks ago.

There were only 700 copies of the steelbook altogether, so it went out of stock almost instantly (despite the ludicrous pricing). Also, it's apparently not a real steelbook but the regular version in a metal slipcase.

As for the regular BD, a poster at Blu-ray.com called Yesasia and was told to "wait couple days for us to get in and ship it to you" [sic], so it may just be a stock issue. The home video market is pretty weak in Hong Kong nowadays and the international demand for this title could've stretched supplies.

EDIT: Just checked Yesasia again--it says all releases are "Out of Print" if you search for them, but when you visit the item's actual page it says "Usually ships within 7 - 14 days" and you can place an order as usual. Sounds like they're having a stock issue and the "out of print" thing is some kind of glitch.

[Finch]

Received my BD from dddhouse today. Maybe I'll find time to watch the film tonight.

[MichaelB]

Just checked Yesasia again--it says all releases are "Out of Print" if you search for them, but when you visit the item's actual page it says "Usually ships within 7 - 14 days" and you can place an order as usual. Sounds like they're having a stock issue and the "out of print" thing is some kind of glitch.

YesAsia told me that when I ordered, but I had a shipping confirmation the very next day. (I'd used them before, so I felt more comfortable dealing with them). Presumably it'll turn up within the next ten days or so.

[Finch]

I liked the film a lot. It played like Ashes of Time with the framework of a biopic to me, and it references other films (Zang Ziyi talking into a little hole in the wall, addressing her father, recalled In The Mood For Love, and Grandmaster ends with a similar montage) as well. At first, I found the editing in the fight scenes a little jarring but I suppose Wong Kar-Wai, as in Ashes of Time, is trying to present it in a more abstracted form, and if anything, it's more severe in the earlier film. My favourite sequence in the film is the build-up to, and the fight between Ziyi's character and The Razor at the train station, and though Wong Kar-Wai never slows the pacing down as much as Leone did, it made me think of Once Upon A Time in The West. As usual, the texture and cinematography is exquisite. I agree that it's not a perfect film by any means but for my money, it's still upper-tier Wong Kar-Wai, and, unless it turns out to be a truly exceptional year, The Grandmaster will occupy a slot in my 2013 Top Ten.

[boywonder]

Well, put most of what you thought about Wong Kar Wai on the back burner, at least for "The Grandmaster". Without Christopher Doyle filming most of the texture and jarring juxtapositions that were so surprising in the director's early work are all gloss now. The fight scenes seem like they came out of an old Michael Jackson or Madonna video. It all seems a bit tragic, but it seems to prove the old theory that the more money you plug into a project, the less snappy it will be.

Wong seemed so much more at ease making films up as he went along. Well. you can't do that with a large (but rather unused cast), and some spendy looking set pieces. Perhaps the four hour version fleshes out the biopic a bit more, but a biopic seems so contrary to what this director should be doing.

In "The Grandmaster's" favor, it does seem to pick up in its final half hour. The camera work gets a little woozy, Tony Leung starts to get all sentimental and nostalgic, and the tight grandeur of the first two thirds of the film settles in to a slightly grimmer and off kilter post 1950. As I watched the endless credit sequence, I thought to myself, hmm ... maybe this will play better on a second viewing ... and definitely better in a much longer cut.

[The Fanciful Norwegian]

Wong and Doyle were on the outs longer than a lot of people seem to think. He left mid-shoot on both In the Mood for Love and 2046 and less than half an hour of each film was actually shot by him. Which is not surprising since I feel both films have a very different visual sensibility than what came before, but drawing a clear line between "Doyle" and "post-Doyle" line oversimplifies things, I think.

I liked this film a lot and found it rewarded repeat viewings--much like 2046, which I didn't care for at all until my second or third go-around. And like 2046 I find it hard to put my finger on how it works or what (I think) Wong is trying to do, so I just have a bunch of rambling notes that I want to share but seem too messy and shapeless. Which I suspect is a bit like how Wong feels when he's finishing a movie, though I don't want to press the comparison too much...

[hearthesilence]

Did you read Doyle's last published interview? Vitriolic as hell, I feel like he's burning most of his bridges these days.