IP Man: Career defining performance for Donnie Yen.

 

After the previous blog post, this would seem to come as no surprise after a Donnie Yen movie was the focus. Now, the main focus of this blog is to share my love for Eastern cinema and also highlight the lesser known gems that are out there. With that stated that doesn't mean that in such a case as in this particular post, with the focus on a very well known Donnie Yen movie, arguably his most well known in the West, it would be unjust to focus on Yen's works without referring to IP Man. It would be incomplete and inconsiderate to not at least make some type of blog post about the IP Man series and just how they showcased just how brilliant Donnie Yen has been his whole career. 

Being a big fan of Bruce Lee, Donnie Yen and IP Man himself, I was beyond excited and intrigued when I initially heard the reports that Donnie Yen was going to portray Bruce Lee's mentor and Wing Chun teacher in a movie. The news that Wilson Yip would be directing the project only added to the anticipation. Of course, the movie lead to 3 sequels, this is something that happens quite often when the Hong Kong filmmakers depict the life of a famous person's life. In this blog post and the next three, I'll be doing an overview of the series as a whole and stating why it's a successful franchise. 

The series begins in the Foshan province of China during the 1930s. Ip Man at the time was a Wing Chun master and quite respected within the community. Unfortunately, for Fo Shan and China as a whole these were rough and turbulent times as the Sino-Japanese war had just begun. This is where I believe the series' nationalist undertones become apparent as it introduces a foreign adversary in the Japanese, particularly general Miura portrayed excellently by Hiroyuki Ikeuchi. Foreign adversaries are consistent throughout the series with the second movie having Twister, a British boxer as antagonist, the third movie had Mike Tyson as intimidating boxer and triad associate Frank, the last in the series features Scott Adkins as US Marine Corp Gunnery Sargent and Karate expert, Barton Geddes. IP Man could be seen as a stand in for China overcoming it's various enemies and defending it's honour. 

Miura within the first movie, establishes a martial arts arena after the Japanese army take control of Fo Shan. The population of Fo Shan is decimated and IP Man himself falls into poverty after losing his mansion and turns to coal mining in order to provide for his family. This is a great example of the protagonist facing adversary before their triumph and whilst he is viewed as a hero, it showcases the fact that he is not invulnerable and is indeed human. His struggles to simply work to provide for his family could be relatable for many people of all ethnicities and thus, IP Man becomes more appealing in that regard. Despite the fact that he previously owned a mansion, his fall into poverty makes him relatable to even the working class of which I sprouted from. 

Miura being a martial arts enthusiast and karate expert, offers a bag of rice to any Chinese martial artists who can defeat his martial artists. At first, IP Man wants no part of the fighting however, when a friend of his (Lin) volunteers and is murdered, he changes his mind and seeks to accept the challenge to avenge him. What follows is one of the best examples of one vs many fight scenes in cinematic history. IP Man pummels 10 karate students in an uneven fight with beautiful proficiency and technique. Donnie Yen showcases his Wing Chun skills expertly and in very swift fashion. The fight is brutal and is the closest Ip Man comes to losing his temper but, he keeps his composure and Miura is impressed with his skills. The Japanese general offers or more accurately demands IP Man a role as a Wing Chun instructor for the Japanese military but IP Man instead challenges Miura to a public battle. Miura accepts and we are then treated to a brilliant climatic fight scene in which the differences between Chinese and Japanese martial arts are exquisitely portrayed. 

Ip Man got a lot right despite being a typical grandiose telling of a historical person's life. Donnie Yen got to prove precisely why he's one of the best to ever be involved in the martial arts cinema and action in general. It's incredible to think that before this movie, he was pretty much a novice when it came to Wing Chun. The action he does in this movie is a stark contrast to his other outings and it's wonderful to see. If you didn't know heading into the movie, you'd never be able to tell that he was a beginner due to his performance in the movie. His form and commitment earned him praise from IP Man's son, Wing Chun grandmaster and technical advisor for the movie's fight choreography, IP Chun. The movie also showcases Donnie Yen's acting skills. His restrained performance full of humility and modesty stands out amongst his other work and perhaps is his finest performance ever. He delivers a performance is like a portrait for the kind of man that Ip Man was. 

I'd be a fool to not give an honourable mention to Fan Siu Wong, as he turned in a brilliant and memorable performance as Jin, an outsider martial arts expert who challenges the local population of Fo Shan to martial arts contests. His fight with Ip Man within the mansion is epic. The story of the two martial artists trying not to break the ornaments and furniture whilst fighting is very entertaining as is the interruption featuring Ip Man's son. These moments help to showcase that Jin has some degree of honour with him willing to pause the fight and even pay for things he breaks. Unfortunately, some of his scenes were cut from the movie and that's a shame because these were scenes that brought some closure to his arc. 

Props have to go to the action and stunt team. Sammo Hung deserves credit for his action choreography and directing as he proved once again why he's a master of his craft. Ip Chun also should receive some credit for helping to ensure that Wing Chun was portrayed authentically and for training Donnie Yen in the art. Wilson Yip directed the movie with the proficiency that has become expected of him and helped make this collaboration work. 

Ip Man has gone down as a great martial arts movie and perhaps even one of the greatest of all time and deservedly so. It is a fitting tribute to a great man in Ip Man and I would recommend it to anyone that enjoys action cinema.