The Master

By Liao Fangzhou Source:Global Times Published: 2015-12-14 17:33:01

Much more than just action from Xu Haofeng


Chinese cinema is offering an early Christmas present for film lovers in the shape of The Master, Xu Haofeng's latest directorial outing that proves the man is himself a true master of his medium.

This follows Xu limiting his role to co-scriptwriter for his last two projects - Republican-era martial arts films by auteurs Wong Kar-wai and Chen Kaige.

The 109-minute film opens with Chen Shi (Liao Fan), a Guangdong Province native and heir of the Yongchun school of martial arts, arriving in Tianjin in the hope of setting up his own martial arts school.

To do so, he must defeat more than half of the city's martial arts schools in formal duels.

Chen, taking advice from local martial arts mogul Zheng Shan'ao (Jin Shijie), marries Zhao Guohui (Song Jia) and discovers disciple Geng Liangchen (Song Yang).

Chen teaches Geng to challenge the schools for him, as this is the only way that the highly xenophobic and arrogant local community will accept their own failures.

As the talented Geng proceeds, however, Chen learns that the disciple will be banished from Tianjin for his entire life if he loses.

Meanwhile, one of Zheng's own disciples, the cunning Lin Xiwen (Huang Jue) who is a member of the Republican military, is to make the last duel unexpectedly difficult.

Actor Liao Fan (left) as Chen Shi in The Master

Refreshing combat

The film excels in action with a series of smooth, varied and intelligently designed (Xu himself is the choreographer) combat scenes that are well dispersed throughout the film.

We are introduced to the art of Yongchun through Geng's practising and dueling in the first two thirds of the film.

The last 30 minutes see Chen thoroughly displaying the astonishing craft, especially in the last and extremely long action scene, in which he duels a dozen martial arts masters, one after another, from one end of a lane to another.

Xu also understands less is more and the importance of leaving room for imagination.

When Geng goes for the crucial eighth challenge at the school of Tianjin's second heavyweight Mrs Zou (Jiang Wenli), Xu completely omits the actual fight.

Right after the interesting pre-duel dialogue between Mrs Zou and Geng, the film jumps to an apparently humiliated Mrs Zou complaining to Zheng.

It is exactly the right time to have a break from combat, for soon after this scene the action really gets heavy and tightly packed.

Moreover, Xu's martial arts world feels real, as he puts no distance between "action" and "daily life."

For example, right after Geng's first trial with Chen in his backyard - the two fighting while Zhao washing a basket of crabs - the three are shown enjoying a meal of crabs together.

The film is also laudable for its understated and moreover humorous treatment of romantic feelings, something most martial arts productions nowadays ruin with sentimentalism or pretentiousness.

This is largely supported by Xu's dialogue , which is concise, witty and to-the-point.

Well cast

Emerging actor Song Yang, who has starred in all three of Xu's directorial works, is brilliant as Geng, a seemingly gray character at first as his pursuit of Yongchun is merely driven by a desire to check out Chen's famously beautiful wife.

Over time, Song perfectly delivers the character's multiple faces - devotion and diligence, sexual charm, cockiness, lonesomeness, and eventually a profound attachment to his homeland.

This is an actor rare among his generation that deserves more recognition.

A poster for the film Photos: CFP

Everyone's a critic

GT: How do you rank the film in its genre?

Maggie, 29, new media

"It is certainly distinctive, with very unconventional action and cuts that often stunned me completely, and a dark, clever sense of humor rarely found in Chinese cinema. The film also takes weapons and rituals very seriously, which drew me into the larger context."

GT: Which actor or actress do you find most impressive?

Liu Yi, 30, lecturer

"Jin Shijie. Zheng is certainly not his most complex role, but he wonderfully merges an alpha male and a sometimes childish, adorable manner. Simply with a look from his eyes or a hand gesture, he effortlessly conveys everything."

GT: Which part of the film could have been better?

Shasha, 25, biologist

"It might just be me, but I find some of the lines about women quite male-centered and I am not comfortable with them. Some would argue that these comments are alright because the story is supposed to be taking place decades ago and that the martial arts world is undoubtedly male-dominated, but I think art should do better than 'retelling' that."



Posted in: Metro Shanghai, Culture

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