The Grandmaster

The Grandmaster is set in 1930s China, as the last imperial dynasty has fallen and the country slides toward war and Japanese occupation. Ip Man, a Wing Chun master in the southern city of Foshan who will later train Bruce Lee, is drawn into the rivalry between the southern and northern martial arts schools when the respected grandmaster Baosen arrives to name a successor. Baosen's daughter Gong Er, herself a skilled fighter, becomes Ip Man's equal and the object of an unspoken attachment. When Baosen is murdered by one of his own students, Gong Er sets out to avenge him, and the two masters are separated by the upheaval that follows. Years later their paths cross again in Hong Kong, where both have rebuilt their lives around teaching and medicine, though the past has left its mark.

Wong Kar-wai directed and co-wrote the film with Zou Jingzhi and Xu Haofeng, producing with Jacky Pang. It is the fifteenth of eighteen features he has directed in chronological order, following Ashes of Time Redux and preceding The Hand. Tony Leung Chiu-wai plays Ip Man, with Zhang Ziyi as Gong Er and supporting turns from Chang Chen, Zhao Benshan, Xiao Shenyang and Song Hye-kyo among a credited cast of 38.

The film was released in January 2013. Made for about 39 million US dollars, it took roughly 64 million worldwide. On IMDb it holds 6.6/10 from around 39,000 votes and on TMDB 6.6/10 from about 1,000 votes, while a critics' rating of 6.8/10 from 140 reviews places professional assessment slightly above the audience score.