Ip Man
Taglines: The celebrated Kung Fu master of Bruce Lee.
A kung fu master honors the traditions of his ancestors and never applies his knowledge to gain short-term glory. Ip Man does not take students. No one can persuade a master to share his knowledge. Only a few saw Yip Man’s skill. A man holds small sparring with his friends to share experience and point out their shortcomings. One day, Ip Man received a duel challenge from one of the new founders of his own kung fu school. The duel took place secretly from everyone behind closed doors. But an occasional witness to the fight found out that the victory went to Yip Man. The news spread throughout the city, and again, people started talking about the superiority of the master over their colleagues. The disgraced opponent Yip Man harbored a grudge against a guy who could not hide the truth.
But times have changed and the Japanese are attacking China. Many kung fu masters died. Only a few people were left who were able to withstand the formidable enemy, and among them was Ip Man. The man still does not depart from his rules. He continues to use knowledge only in extreme cases. Ip Man tries to remain human, despite the harsh times, because the war has hardened the country’s civilian population.
During the Japanese invasion of China, a wealthy martial artist is forced to leave his home when his city is occupied. With little means of providing for themselves, Ip Man and the remaining members of the city must find a way to survive.
Creators: Edmond Wong, Chan Tai-lee
Director: Wilson Yip
Star Cast: Donnie Yen, Simon Yam, Lynn Hung, Gordon Lam, Fan Siu-wong, Xing Yu, Chen Zhihui, Hiroyuki Ikeuchi, Tenma Shibuya
Producer (s): Raymond Wong
Cinematographer: O Sing-Pui
Production House: Golden Harvest Company, Beijing ShengShi HuaRei Film Investment & Management Co., China Film Co-Production Corporation
Music: Kenji Kawai
Original network / Official Sites: Mandarin Films
Release Year: 12 December 2008 (China)
Runtime: 108 min
Genres: Action, Biography, Drama, History
Country: Hong Kong, China
Language: Cantonese, Mandarin, Japanese
Subtitles: English, Bengali
In the 1930s, Foshan is a hub of Southern Chinese martial arts, where various schools actively recruit disciples and compete against each other. Although the Wing Chun master Ip Man is the most skilled martial artist in Foshan, he is unassuming and maintains an almost invisible profile. As an independently wealthy man, he feels no need to accept any disciples and instead spends his days training, meeting with friends, and spending time with his family. However, his wife is often resentful of the time he spends training and discussing martial arts with friends and colleagues. Though not a professional martial artist, Ip is respected in Foshan due to the abilities he displays in friendly, closed-door competitions with local masters. Ip’s reputation is further enhanced when he defeats an aggressive, rude, highly skilled Northern Chinese martial arts master, Jin Shanzhao, thus upholding the regional pride of fellow Southern stylists and others in Foshan.
The Japanese invasion in 1937 adversely affects the life of everyone in Foshan. The Imperial Japanese Army claims Ip’s house and repurpose it into their Foshan military headquarters. Ip and his family lose their wealth and are forced to move into a decrepit apartment. Desperate to support his family, Ip finds work at a coal mine. The Japanese General Miura, a Karate master, establishes an arena where Chinese martial artists compete with his military trainees. Li Zhao, a former police officer and Ip’s acquaintance, now works as an interpreter for the Japanese army. He offers the martial artists working at the coal mine the chance to earn a bag of rice for every match they win. At first, Ip declines to fight. However, when his friend Lin disappears after taking part in a match, Ip agrees to participate in order to find out what happened to his friend. Ip watches fellow Foshan martial arts practitioner, Master Liu, defeat one karateka, but then Liu requests to fighting three at once and loses. When Liu attempts to collect the winning bag of rice from the first match, Miura’s second in-command, Colonel Sato, shoots and kills him. Miura points Sato’s own gun to his head and threatens to personally execute him if he fires in the dojo again.
Upon seeing the shooting, Ip deduces that Lin was beaten and killed after an earlier fight. Barely containing his rage, Ip demands a match with ten karateka at once. Despite having not practiced Wing Chun since the Japanese occupied Foshan (to conserve energy and thus save food for his family), he mercilessly defeats them all with a brutal and effective barrage of blows, showing none of the restraint he exhibited in earlier matches. His skill arouses the interest of Miura, who wants to learn more about Ip and watch him fight again.
Ip later visits his friend, Chow Ching-chuen, who owns and runs a cotton mill in Foshan. Chow’s son tells Ip that a bandit gang led by Jin is harassing the workers and trying to extort money from them. Ip finally consents to teaching others and trains the workers in Wing Chun for self-defense.
When Ip does not return to the arena, Miura grows impatient and sends Sato, along with several soldiers, to track Ip down. Sato sees Ip’s wife and approaches her. Ip defends his wife, incapacitating Sato and three other soldiers; however, they are forced to flee their apartment and take a room with Li’s family. When the bandits return to the cotton mill, the workers fight back using the techniques that Ip taught them. Ip himself arrives midway through the battle. He defeats many of the robbers and personally beats Jin, embarrassing him again and warning him to stay away from the workers. Among the gang’s number is Yuan, Lin’s brother, who vanished after being publicly humiliated by Lin years before (much to Lin’s regret). Ip confronts Yuan outside the mill and tells him of his brother’s fate.
Jin informs Miura of Ip’s connection to the cotton mill. The Japanese raid the mill and take Ip who asks Chow to take his wife and son away for protection. Miura says that Ip’s life will be spared if Ip agrees to instruct the Japanese soldiers in Chinese martial arts. Ip refuses and challenges Miura to a match. Miura accepts because of his love for martial arts and to avoid humiliating the Japanese people. The match between Ip and Miura is held in public in Foshan’s square. Sato secretly threatens Ip with death if he does not throw the match. At first, the two fighters seem equally matched, but Ip eventually overwhelms Miura, inflicting on him a severe beating through an impeccable defense and relentless and direct blows.
The Chinese crowd cheers Ip, who sees his wife and child returning with Chow. Enraged at Miura’s defeat, Sato shoots Ip in the shoulder, inciting the Chinese crowd who overwhelm the Japanese soldiers. During the scuffle, Li kills Sato with Sato’s own gun. Ip is taken away by Chow and his family among the chaos. The epilogue reveals that he survives and escapes with his family to Hong Kong with Chow’s help. There, Ip establishes a Wing Chun school, where his students, including Bruce Lee, come to learn martial arts from him.
