IMDb Top 250: #217 – Ip Man (2008)

Finding a philosophy through fighting doesn’t come easy. Rocky doesn’t question Nietzche when K.O-ing Drago, and Van Damme doesn’t deliver Aristotle inspired roundhouses. The greatest bridge the movie world has found between the two was the late great Bruce ‘Hitmon’ Lee. Mixing lightning moves with quotes like ‘As you think, so shall you become’ he gave henchmen piece of his mind to go with the standard knuckle-sandwich. No one is just born with this knack for thoughtful bone breaking, so who taught the master, to master both mind and body?

Ip Man is the 2008 biopic of the legendary Martial artist of the same name. Credited with teaching Baby Bruce the ways of the force and bringing his own brand of fighting, Wing Chun, to the world, Ip Man is a behemoth in the Kung Fu-niverse.

Beginning in a prosperous pre-war life before moving in to the hell of living through Japanese occupied China, we see Ip stripped of good times spent physically schooling local masters at family dinners to a life of manual labour to keep said family from starvation. Things get tougher when the sadistic Japanese General Miura takes an interest in Ip, and bandits start hassling a friend’s local factory. Ip is forced to juggle between beating the Japanese (ten at a time in an impromptu tournament), shovelling coal, teaching factory workers kung-fu, eating huge sweet potatoes and spending QT time with the fam.

In reality, Ip Man led such a whirlwind life that it would be impossible to fit it all into a single film, director Wilson Yip and writer Edmond Yong do their best steer away from that, but they still struggle with what they want to tell us. Moving away from historical accuracy when making a biopic is fine, but twisting the central character to perform a political agenda is another kettle of fish altogether. An evidential scene comes when General Miura demands Ip Man’s name after he’s just finished beating a large portion of the General’s men to a pulp. Ip’s profound response of ‘I’m just a Chinese man’ had such an impact that later I almost delivered the same response when ordering at Starbucks.

Further still, a whole propaganda-laden subplot of Ip needing to teach plucky factory workers to defend themselves could have easily been left out of the finished project and the film would have come out better for the weight loss. Cutting down on these obvious attempts to showboat Ip Man as such a man of the people would have streamlined the film, and given it more focus on certain events, rather than a passing glance over too many. Part Life is Beautiful, and part A Bug’s Life, the film never finds which struggle to invest in fully, leaving Yip exhaustingly dealing out face breaking justice to the Japanese invaders whilst simultaneously looking out for family, friends, and the general population of China.

Relentless Ip is untiringly portrayed by star Donnie Yen (Hero, Bodyguards and Assassins), who brings an unquestionable energy to the part. Yen’s Ip is more fighter than philosopher; making it obvious that, at his core, he’d rather have a Bosley with the boys than a cup of tea and a long look into himself. He gives us a compassionate technician with the right amount of cocksure that means he never has to show he’s top dog, but doesn’t turn down an invitation to prove it. One of the few stars to undertake his own stunts, Yen’s fight scenes come across as cruelly authentic with the choreographer Sammo Hung and veteran fight/stunt coordinator Tony Leung Siu-hung offering us knowledgeable depictions of the fighting styles around during the period.

The standout dramatic performance comes from Ka Tung Lam (Infernal Affairs, An Inspector Calls) as Captain Lei Chiu, who walks the dangerous line between Japanese interpreter and outright Judas. Although the film is heavy on the bone breaking, the direction doesn’t shy away from more intense moments, such as Ip believing he has wasted his life on Kung Fu to Captain Lei Chiu coming face to face with the fact he may actually be a traitor to his people. Although the quantity and quality of action is phenomenal, the film could have taken a longer look at the character of Ip Man himself. Presenting us with so many examples of great achievements, you’ll be left asking just why he’d do them, short of some unexplainable loyalty to seemingly everyone.

During the production of Ip Man the producers were forced to change the name of the film from ‘Grandmaster Ip Man’ because of objections by Wong Kar Wai about it being too similar to the title of his own Ip Man biopic, The Grandmaster. The similarities didn’t end with the name either; the film’s depiction of Ip Man, his ferocious ability and his calm before the storm attitude are present in both. However, the most telling likeness between the two is how neither goes into detail about what makes the man himself tick. Wong Kar Wai’s attempt diverts away from Ip Man around the midpoint, and instead shifts onto his romantic interest and Kung Fu rival, whilst the other is more concerned with his feats rather than the man performing them.

That’s not to say that the films are just two sides of the same coin, the truth is anything but. The Grandmaster is far more meditative than the visceral Ip Man. This is nevermore prevalent than in one of the more important bouts, between Ip and a soon-to-be former martial arts master, where they spend the whole time giving fierce philosophical repartee whilst simultaneously trying to break, quite literally, a cookie. Noticing a huge difference in the tempo for both action and narrative in The Grandmaster, you start willing the fights to stop using slow motion, characters to cut out their ceaseless pensive glances and when they do speak, for it to not be in metaphor. The best outcome for both films would have been a melding of the two, to serve up the action and energy from Ip Man, mixed with the deep thinking of The Grandmaster. The result would surely be a film that shows Ip’s unbeatable ass kicking, whilst giving us a deeper insight into the philosophy behind the fist.

Since this list was published, the film has dropped down IMDB’s top 250 list to 229. Even with that decline in mind, behemoths like Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon, Hero and House of the Flying Daggers aren’t even on the list, so it seems crazy Ip Man is. It’s ranking has to be taken as a sign of the sheer popularity surrounding the film. Spawning two sequels, which are more of the same but definitely worth a double bill on a quiet Tuesday night, Ip Man evidently has a devoted fan base. Does it teach you how to link the questions of life with face breaking? Not particularly, but Ip Man never came to do that, it came to show us the man who would give a young Bruce Lee the guide book.

Note: the IMDb Top 250 Cultured Vultures are using is based on the standings from the 16th of November. Inconsistencies may apply.