How Many Ip Man Films Does It Take?

The title was fashioned after a popular commercial of my childhood which asked the rhetorical questions phrased as a literal one, "How many licks does it take to get to the center of a Tootsie Pop?"  How many Ip Man biopics does it take to saturate the market?

By my count, I have seen have seen three films based on Ip Man's life in the past few years.  I added two to that total in September alone.  I saw both films at the 4 Star.

The Grandmaster starring Tony Leung Chiu-Wai & Zhang Ziyi; directed by Kar Wai Wong, Mandarin, Cantonese & Japanese with subtitles; (2013) - Official Website
Ip Man: The Final Fight starring Anthony Wong; directed by Herman Yau; Cantonese with subtitles; (2013) - Official Website

The Grandmaster was supposed to be a different kind of kung fu film.  Directed by Kar Wai Wong who is known for unhurried explorations of forbidden longing.  Tony Leung plays Ip Man in The Grandmaster.  His impossible love is Zhang Ziyi who plays the daughter of a kung fu rival.  After an impromptu match between the two (which Ip Man "loses"), it seems a romance is likely but WWII gets in the way.  Gong (Zhang) in the north is separated by the Japanese Army from Man in the south of of China.  We watch Gong confront her late father's protege over his collaboration with the Japanese.  The most memorable scene involves a duel between Gong and Ma San (Zhang Jin), in the snow, on a train platform, while a train speeds past the platform.  Suffering grievous injuries during the fight, Gong is unable to fight with Man in Hong Kong when the meet after the war.

Covering some ground I've seen before (particularly evocative of Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon), Leung and Zhang's interplay mixes martial arts and romantic attraction.  Their skills and philosophies during the fight reveal their strength of character and only serves to intensify their appeal to each other.

The Grandmaster was edited down by 15 minutes from the international film festival version which probably detracted from the experience.  Frankly, writing nearly two months after seeing it, I remember the fight sequences more than the interaction between Leung and Zhang.  Both Leung and Zhang are movie stars of the highest order.  By that I mean, they have screen presence galore.  You can't take your eyes off them when they are on screen.

Ip Man: The Final Fight focuses on his later life in Hong Kong when age and money troubles are taking their toll on him.  Trying to maintain his dignity, Ip Man struggles with separation from his wife (and eventually widower status) and pecuniary matters such as having to teach kung fu to make a living.

In many ways, I preferred Ip Man: The Final Fight to The Grandmaster.  Ip Man was presented as more flawed in The Final Fight.  His students have their own lives - one is a corrupt cop, another fights in death matches for money, one of his female students resents Ip Man's girlfriend after his wife dies, etc.  Through it all, Ip Man tries to persevere with some measure of his honor intact.

Anthony Wong, whom I associate most with Johnny To films, plays Ip Man with a quiet reserve.   Zhou Chu-Chu as a nightclub singer/heroin addict/Ip Man's girl is memorable.

Both of these films were worthwhile and there is much to admire and enjoy about them.  I wish I had time to write more about them.

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The 4 Star is hosting the annual Chinese American Film Festival from November 13 to 20.  Three of the films are being screen free of admission charge on November 12.  A few of the films look interesting.

Dangerous Liaisons

I saw the Chinese version of Dangerous Liaisons at the AMC Metreon earlier this month.  I don't know if I have mentioned it before but the AMC Metreon reserves one screen for Asian films (typically Chinese or Korean).  That's not necessarily true every week (such as last week) but most weeks there is an Asian film screening.

Dangerous Liaisons starring Cecilia Cheung, Dong-gun Jang & Ziyi Zhang; directed by Jin-ho Hur; Mandarin with subtitles; (2012) - Official Website

Dangerous Liaisons is based on the novel Les Liaisons dangereuses by Pierre Choderlos de Laclos.  Seemingly one of the most adapted works outside Shakespeare, the novel has been turned into a play as well as three film previous films which I have seen - Dangerous Liaisons (1988), Valmont (1989) and Cruel Intentions (1999)

This Dangerous Liaisons is set in 1930s Shanghai which is much more appropriate than a 1990s American high school (Cruel Intentions).  It hews closely to its namesake predecessor which is the version with John Malkovich.  Cecilia Cheung has the Glenn Close role, Ziyi Zhang has the Michelle Pfeiffer role and South Korean actor Dong-gun Jang as the Malkovich role.  There are actors who are clearly playing the roles played by Uma Thurman, Keanu Reeves (the actor even has facial expressions reminiscent of Keanu) and Swoosie Kurtz.

In the interest of time, I won't bother to recount the plot since the tale of deceit and seduction is so well known.  Although 1930s Shanghai was an interesting choice, I wonder if a Three Kingdoms era setting wouldn't have been better.  Much of the film takes place in a French-style château presumably within driving distance of Shanghai.  That seemed out of place.  The characters frequently spoke in English which also seemed odd.  My companion at the screening told me that in 1930s Shanghai, it was considered chic for wealthy Chinese to speak English and assume Western customs of dress and behavior.  Perhaps...but when Jang utters "Wowwww" in response to Cecilia Cheung's request to seduce the virgin, it seemed ridiculous.

Cecelia Cheung cuts loose with an, at times, unrestrained performance.  Dong-gun Jang is more even as the debaucher.  Ziyi Zhang didn't quite have the range to go from repressed to passionate to hearbreak.  The actress Rong Rong was effectively clueless and annoying in the Swoosie Kurtz role.

Even if the individual performances were less than extraordinary, the film was more than the sum of its parts.  Cheung gets to wear some nice costumes and has a nice chemistry with Jang.  Although Zhang might not have had quite the range necessary, she acquits herself adequately.

I'd like to watch the two versions of Dangerous Liaisons back-to-back to compare the plot and actors' performance.  One main difference is that Glenn Close's deceit is revealed and causes her nervous breakdown.  Cecilia Cheung seems to go mad because she loved the man she destroyed.  Another significant plot difference is that Michelle Pfeiffer's character died whereas Ziyi Zhang goes on to become a schoolteacher.  However, these differences are in the last 5 minutes of the film.  Up until then, I was surprised by how much the two films were in simpatico.

Wong Kar Wai's 1960s Trilogy

Way back in April, I saw Wong Kar Wai's loose trilogy as a triple feature at the Castro Theater.  I didn't forget about the films.  I was just unsure what to write as my opinion of the three films varies greatly.

Days of Being Wild starring Leslie Cheung, Maggie Cheung, Andy Lau & Carina Lau; cameo by Tony Leung Chiu-Wai; Cantonese with subtitles; (1990) - Official Website
In the Mood for Love starring Tony Leung Chiu-Wai & Maggie Cheung; Cantonese with subtitles; (2000) - Official Website
2046 starring Tony Leung Chiu-Wai, Zhang Ziyi, Faye Wong, Carina Lau, Gong Li & Takuya Kimura; Cantonese and some Japanese with subtitles; (2004) - Official Website

All three films were directed by Wong Kar Wai.  Christopher Doyle was the cinematographer on all three films as well.

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The films showed a career arc.  Days of Being Wild, Wong's second film as director, was interesting but hinted at Wong's potential.  In the Mood for Love was a masterpiece.  2046 was self-indulgent.

Days of Being Wild did not focus Chow Mo-wan (Tony Leung Chiu-Wai) as the other two films did.  Leung makes a cameo at the end of the film but the main character is Yuddy played by the late Leslie Cheung.  Yuddy is a "love 'em and leave 'em" type in 1960s Hong Kong.  At the beginning of the film, he romancing Su Li Zhen (Maggie Cheung, looking different somehow), a cashier in a concession stand.  Their's is an intense, lusty relationship which Yuddy breaks off.  That leave Li Zhen emotionally crushed although she eventually forms a friendship with Tide, a cop (Andy Lau). 

Yuddy's next conquest is Mimi (Carina Lau), a glamorous cabaret singer who suffers the same fate as Li Zhen.  Yuddy's friend Zeb (Jacky Cheung) is secretly in love with Mimi.  When Yuddy decides to go to the Philippines to search for his birth mother, Zeb gets his chance with Mimi.

In the Philippines, the wealthy Yuddy is living in a flophouse in the Chinatown section where he encounters Tide who has quit his police job.  At this point, the plot becomes a little fuzzy.  I'm not sure if it was my memory or Wong's unstructured style.  Yuddy does reunite with his Filipino mother with unsatisfactory results.  While taking a train with Tide, Yuddy is shot.  I can't the reason or if it was a random incident.  Although he survives for quite some time, the film ends with Yuddy dying as a result of his wounds.

There were a number of themes in Days of Being Wild that I caught.  One is the timing of romance.  Tide and Li Zhen may have been a couple if they had met before Li Zhen painful breakup with Yuddy.  Mimi & Zeb may turn out to be a couple because they had encountered Yuddy in the recent past.  So much of life is not quite fate but sequential for lack of a better word. 

Unrequited love is a major theme.  Much of Yuddy's behavior stems from his strained relationship with his aunt/foster mother (Rebecca Pan), a former prostitute.  They both want the love of the other but circumstances keep them emotionally separated.  What is more unrequited than a mother giving her son away...to a prostitute no less!

Combined with Doyle's cinematography and the 1960s music, Days of Being Wild is a contemplative film which evokes a mood and specific time and place.

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The trilogy was screened in chronological order.  After seeing Days of Being Wild, I was greatly anticipating In the Mood for Love, a critically acclaimed film I had long wanted to see.

A major character in In the Mood for Love is Mrs. Chan (Maggie Cheung).  I didn't realize until late in the film that Mrs. Chan is the same character as Su Li Zhen in Days of Being Wild.  Mrs. Chan is so different than the lovelorn Li Zhen of Days of Being Wild that it didn't register with me.  After the screening, while looking at the credits, I realized that Rebecca Pan was in both films (looking unrecognizable between the two films).  I don't believe Pan is playing the same character but it wouldn't surprise me. 

In the Mood for Love has a more structured plot than the other films in the trilogy.  Chow Mo-wan (Tony Leung Chiu-Wai) and his wife (who is never seen on screen) rent a room in a boardinghouse run by Mrs. Suen (Pan).  One of their neighbors is Mrs. Chan and her husband (who is never seen on screen).  Mr. Chow is a journalist while Mrs. Chan is a secretary.  I don't recall their spouses' jobs but the spouses are absent for long stretches of time.

Mr. Chow & Mrs. Chan begin to suspect their spouses are having an affair with each other.  Taking solace in each other's company, the two form a platonic friendship.  Chow wants to wrote a kung fu serial for his newspaper which Chan is a fan of.  They collaboration raised the suspicions of their neighbors as Mrs. Suen subtly warns Mrs. Chow.  In fact, the warning was not about having an affair but allowing neighbors to think you are having an affair.

Chow rents a (garishly painted) room far from the Suen boardinghouse for the two to work together away from wagging tongues.  Their relationship intensifies during this period as both are deeply dissatisfied by their lives.  It still remain platonic as their circumstances dictate.  Not only are they married to other people but after condemning their respective spouses, they would be hypocritical to engage in the same behavior.

As the serial nears completion, Chow announces that he is leaving Hong Kong for a new job in Singapore.  He asks Chan to go with him (what about his wife?).  After initial hesitancy and delay, Chang decides to take his offer but after rushing to the room, she finds Chow has already left.

A year later, Chan (what about her husband?) goes to Singapore and calls him on the phone but remains silent.  She even talks the landlady into letting her into his apartment but again doesn't wait for him. 

Several years later, Chan (apparently divorced or separated) returns to the Suen boardinghouse.  Mrs. Suen is about to move to the US.  Chan agrees to rent her apartment.  At yete a future point, Chow returns to the boardinghouse and asks the new owner about Mrs. Suen and is informed she has moved and that a woman and her son live in the unit.  Chow leaves, not knowing the woman in Suen's apartment is Chow.  The film ends with Chow in Angkor Wat with Chow whispering into a tree hole and covering the hole with mud which is a old custom Chow had recounted earlier about how secrets could be shared.

In the Mood for Love was riveting.  First of all, it was beautiful to look at.  Maggie Cheung wore a stunning and endless array of cheongsam.  My words can't do justice to the colors and designs of these dresses nor the flaterring effect they had on Maggie Cheung's form.  She must have worn at least 30 cheongsam in the film; each more attractive then the last.

Wong & Doyle, also made use of slow motion and the claustrophic HK neighborhoods.  Chan & Chow repeatedly go up and down these stairs leading to a noodle joint with steam rising up.  They miss each other by moments even though they dine at the same place.

Finally, the soundtrack featured Nat King Cole's "Quizás, Quizás, Quizás" as a leitmotif to great effect.

In the Mood for Love is a tremendous film - a great love story about a love that never was.  Poignant, elegiac and immensely engaging, I wanted the pair to find love with each other but Wong teasingly denied me that satisfaction.

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As I settled in for 2046, I wasn't sure what to expect.  I noticed that Chow rented room 2046 in In the Mood for Love. 

2046 has multiple stories within it which make it hard to discern the common threads.  One story involves Chow's novel set in 2046 and a man who falls in love with an android on his train.  To give this story arc resonance, actors Tak Kimura (the man) and Faye Wong (the android) play a Japanese businessman and the landlord's daughter in the hotel where Chow lives.  In fact, all the character in the fictitious future world are played by actors who have other roles in the film.

To cope with his unconsummated relationship with Chan, Chow has transformed himself into a ladies man (like Yuddy in Days of Being Wild).  He even encounters Mimi/Lulu (Carina Lau) who lives in room 2046.  When Chow returns to the hotel a few days later, he inquires about renting 2046.  The landlord tells him it is not available because Mimi was stabbed in the room by a jealous boyfriend (Jacky Cheung as presumably Zeb). 

From this room, Chow observes the sequential residents of 2046.  First is a  Wang Jing Wen (Faye Wong) who forbidden relationship with a Japanese man causes a nervous breakdown.  Next is Bai Ling (Zhang Ziyi), the woman a nightclub owner and upscale prostitute who dresses like Mrs. Chan but is more overt and liberated in her sexuality.  I could go on but there are more threads in this film than Egyptian cotton.

Chow encounters another woman named Su Li Zhen (Gong Li) in Singapore.  These these women as well as Wang Jing Wen's younger sister provide a contrast in feminine sensuality for Chow to react to.  The effect of so many characters was overwhelming. 

Wong put his themes into overdrive in 2046 to the point that I couldn't really follow the film.  Worse, with so many characters, I couldn't empathize with any of them.  Chow as the playboy was much less compelling as Chow the forlorn lover.

So I wasn't so impressed with 2046 but I'd like to watch it again.  In fact, I'd like to see the entire trilogy again.  There are so many interconnected characters that I'm certain I missed many of the connections.  However, if I had to choose just one film of the three, I'd choose In the Mood for Love.

Sophie's Revenge

I was able to watch the English subtitled version of Sophie's Revenge (2009) at the 4 Star. Advertised as a romantic comedy, the film featured a barely recognizable Ziyi Zhang. I can't put my finger on it but her face looked different than she did in Memoirs of a Geisha, Hero or Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon. Maybe it was the hair bangs.



The lack of recognition may be due to seeing her in slaptstick role. The film is obviously a showcase for Zhang's comedic talents. She shows a flair for physical comedy in the film that I had not seen before. The film itself was lacking the plot to showcase her skills.

The story involves comic book artist Sophie (Zhang) and her carefully planned/horribly executed plans to take revenge on her ex-boyfriend Jeff. Jeff dumped Sophie to date movie star Joanna (nice performance by Bingbing Fan). Putting aside the farcical elements of the film, Sophie seems like she is in need of serious psychiatric treatment. She exhibits severe manic-depressive symptoms and frequently hallucinates. She is fixated on winning Jeff back only to break up with him on their wedding day. Sophie and Jeff were engaged before the breakup but Sophie hasn't worked up the courage to tell her mother that they're no longer a couple so the wedding plans continue unabated.

Sophie begins her plan of revenge with the half-hearted help of Joanna's ex-boyfriend Gordon. From an objective viewpoint, Sophie stalks her ex at the hospital he works at, illegally enters his home to plant love notes and her brassiere and finally attempts to become Joanna's friend under a false identity. Gordon, for some reason is attracted to Sophie, but looks on in bewilderment and disgust as Sophie plans and executes her machinations.

The sum total of the movie is a series of slapstick scenes - Sophie wreaking unintentional havoc at the hospital, Sophie scrambling to avoid Jeff & Joanna when they arrive home while she is planting the love notes, Sophie out of her element at the gym where Joanna works out, Sophie drunk at a costume party, etc. I'm not even sure what Jeff's appeal is - he seems kind of buttoned down and boring. Gordon on the hand is a perfect match for Sophie but she can't see it because she is fixated on her revenge plans...and it turns out that Gordon is really Joanna's brother and spying on her at Joanna's behest.

Sophie has two best friends, Lucy (Ruby Lin) and Lily (Chen Yao), that serve as her sounding boards and cohorts. Both of them (particularly Lin) make the most of their limited roles although I couldn't get over how sophisticated and beautiful they looked compared to Sophie.

Did I like the film? I laughed a fair amount. The film was interesting for the upscale world that Sophie, et al. inhabit - bright & airy lofts with hardwood floors, stylish clothes, luxury cars, etc. So much for the cold, grey Chinese urban landscapes that you typically see. Who could have imagined that a comic book writer could afford all that? The film reminded me a little of My Best Friend's Wedding with Julia Roberts. The main character in both films were attractive & successful women who behaved deplorably by real-world standards but yet I was able to laugh at their antics and even feel slight bit of empathy.