Let me introduce you to Bruce Lee's master.... (IP Man (DVD))

Member Name: sakura8

Product:	IP Man (DVD)
Date:	04/04/09 (187 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Interesting story, excellent martial arts

Disadvantages: Bias against the Japanese might not appeal to everyone!

Who's heard of Bruce Lee? Well of course you have, the guy is a total martial arts legend. But how many of you have heard of Ip Man? Nope? Well he's the guy that taught Bruce Lee and was the first person to openly teach Wing Chun Kung Fu to the public.

The film 'Ip Man' documents the life of the martial arts grandmaster in a moving and yet action packed story. This semi-biographical film takes the viewer back to the 1930's to a place called Foshan, China. This place is the hub of Chinese Kung Fu, with many different schools packed along its streets, all vying for new students.

Although Ip Man possesses expert martial arts skills, he is reluctant to open a school himself and prefers to lead a quiet life with his wife and young son. However, all this changes when news spreads throughout the town that Ip Man has beaten a fellow Kung Fu master from the local area, who challenged him to a friendly contest. Ip Man's status in the town changes overnight and his newfound reputation leads him to fighting an arrogant stranger from the north who comes to Foshan to prove his Wushu style is far superior. It is up to Ip Man to restore the town's pride and honour, as this stranger has easily beaten all the other Kung Fu masters and now plans to open his own school in Foshan.

Ip Man becomes a hero, not only for his fighting skills, but also for his calm temperament and moral fibre. Martial arts veteran Donnie Yen (Shanghai Knights, Blade 2) stars as Ip Man and I think he plays the character very well. There is no doubt that his fighting skills are very impressive, but I also found him very enjoyable to watch as an actor. The character of Ip Man appears to be very passive and controlled, but there are definitely moments of playfulness, fear, compassion and downright rage, which Donnie portrays very well.

The rage is due to the terrible fate the Chinese suffer at the hands of the Japanese, when they invaded during World War Two. To be honest history isn't my strongest subject, so I can't say with any confidence if the events were portrayed with true accuracy, but the Japanese aren't shown in the best light. This bias is hardly surprising since the company that produced and distributed the film is Mandarin Films Ltd, which is a Hong Kong based company.

The film flows at a steady pace, switching from amazing fight sequences to more sentimental parts of the story, as we follow Ip Man's fight against the Japanese. He risks his life challenging a Japanese Officer in a karate vs. Kung Fu showdown, but it is a stand that he must make against these oppressors.

If you're a martial arts fan then you will appreciate the action in this film, as Sammo Hung (Mr Vampire, Martial Law) took the helm as action director. He is well qualified for the job, as he has been a fight choreographer for Bruce Lee, Jackie Chan and John Woo. As this film is meant to be realistic, don't expect lots of flying through the air like in the fantastical 'Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon', but there are moments of amazing acrobatics as some wirework is used. I thought the directing was very good and the camera angles that were used during the fight sequences were creative.

The film was particularly enjoyable to watch for my fiancé and I, as we have both trained in Wing Chun Kung Fu in the past. It was interesting to learn that a woman invented Wing Chun, basing the system on using speed and subtlety to overcome an opponent's natural advantages. The part of the film where Ip Man teaches some new students the basic forms, which are the foundations to Wing Chun, brought back fond memories for me.

However, even if you're not a martial arts fan, the story of the film is engaging enough to be enjoyed as you follow this great man's struggle to feed his family after the Japanese take away everything they ever owned.

The acting is very good and although sometimes it was difficult to read the subtitles, I'm glad that it wasn't dubbed as that can take away so much from the actors work.

Apparently this film is the first of a trilogy and I really look forward to learning more about the grandmaster that went on to teach the great Bruce Lee his amazing skills.

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Other info:
We bought our DVD from www.hongkong-store.com for £16.99 as they offer free delivery. This version is spoken in Cantonese or Mandarin and has English subtitles. There are special features on the main disc and there is also a bonus disc with more special features.

Summary: Ip Man is THE MAN!